The  DECORATIVE  PERIODS 


ERRATA. 

Page  30t.     Typographical    error,    Celtic    2000   instead   of    200 

B.C. 
Page  199.     Thirteenth  line,  grandson  instead  of  son. 

Page  100.     Tenth  line    from  bottom,  after  Romanesque   read 
which  instead  of  and. 

Repetition  of  illustrations  like  the  German  Renaissance 
on  page  124  and  the  illustration  on  page  94  is  unavoidable 
in  presenting  types  that  are  often  common  to  two  phases  of 
the  same  art:  Byzantine  and  early  Christian  art;  or  Pom- 
peiian  and  Roman;  or  Cronnvcllian  and  Flemish. 


The  Decorative 
Periods 

CHANDLER  R.  CLIFFORD 


Illu^rated  with  many  Original  and  Facsimile 

Prmts  of  Contemporary  and 

Hi^oric  Intere^ 


WW^ 


New  ^  ork 

CLIFFORD  &  LAWTON 
1906 


N i-  iin 


i^ 


Copyright^  igob 

By  CLIFFORD  d-  LA  VVTO.V 

All  rights  reserved 


\^U 


PREFACE 

H  E  success  of  the  author's  pre- 
vious work,  *•'  Period  Decora- 
tion," unpretentious  and  ele- 
mental as  it  was,  has  prompted 
the  publication  of  this  book, 
which  delves  more  deeply  into 
the  subject. 

Decoration  to  be  good  must 
be  consistent;  to  be  valuable 
it  must  be  historic.  Results 
that  are  harmonious  are  those  that  are  orderly,  and  the 
preparation  of  this  volume  aims  to  assist  the  man  who 
would  steer  clear  of  the  shoals  of  anachronism.  The  world 
appreciates  correctness  in  trivial  matters.  The  civilized 
woman  is  not  gowned  with  an  evening  waist,  a  tennis  skirt, 
shooting  boots  and  an  automobile  hat;  and  little  as  the 
theorv  may  appeal  to  some  minds,  we  venture  to  sav  that 
convention  and  propriety  are  the  attributes  necessary  to 
anv  correct  form  of  the  arts  decorative. 

In  the  hope  that  we  may  shed  light  upon  the  obscuri- 
ties of  the  subject,  we  send  this  volume  forth. 

CLIFFORD  &  LAWTON 


251920 


JAPANESE,  SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY 


THE  FOUR  PARAMOUNT  INFLUENCES 
IN  DECORATION 

ERUDITION,   RELIGION,    COMMERCIALISM,    TEMPERAMENT 

ART  is  the  visible  expression  of  one's  belief  in  the  beautiful. 
All  that  is  good  in  decoration  is  old  ;  what  is  new  is  not 
good.     New  English  is  slang.     The  new  in  art  is  vulgar. 

One  may  have  an  individual  method  of  conveying  an  idea, 
but  the  idea  itself  is  old. 

Only  the  interpretation  is  new,  and  even  that  is  suggested. 
From  the  beginning  art  has  always  simulated  nature. 

Long  before  the  Greek  fret  was  used  the  Chinese  employed 
a  similar  form  of  design,  suggested  by  the  overlapping  waves  of 
the  sea.  The  Roman  acanthus,  the  vetruvian  scroll  and  fleur- 
de-lis  came  direct  from  the  flora  of  Egypt.  Every  motif  i  the 
Renaissance  period  goes  back  in  its  origin  4,000  years  to  the 
palm,  papyrus  and  lotus,  the  growth  and  bloom  of  which  had  a 
religious  significance  to  the  people  of  the  Nile. 

In  no  single  instance  can  we  find  a  motif  in  decoration  that 
has  not  been  suggested  by  nature.  Even  animal  life  suggested 
motifs  that  have  lived  for  centuries;  the  claw  foot  that  we 
see  upon  a  Chippendale  chair  was  Roman  ;  the  griffin,  the  sphinx, 
dolphin,  bull,  eagle  and  beetle,  all  contributed  suggestions  that 
are  now  classics  in  design. 

Decorative  development  is  stimulated  always  by  one  of  four 


10  The  Decorative  Periods 

influences:  P:RUUITI0N,  RELIGION,  COMMERCIAL- 
ISM or  TEMPERAMENT.  Each  progressive  stage  of  de- 
velopment constitutes  what  we  term  a  period  in  design. 

Without  Erudition  the  designer  can  accomphsh  nothing. 
The  Middle  Ages  were  in  darkness.  The  term  Goth  was  a  term 
of  reproach — a  synonym  of  vandaHsm.  Out  of  the  Gothic  period 
there  came  an  awakening  in  art,  the  Renaissance,  a  period  of 
Erudition. 

ReHgion  characterized  the  elementary  principles  of  the  By- 
zantine, Romanesque  and  Gothic  periods  of  design,  and  the  wars 
of  the  Crusaders  spread  Christian  symbolism  among  the  crafts- 
men of  Northern  Africa  and  the  Far  East. 

Where  we  have  composite  design  merging  the  arts  of  one 
country  with  those  of  another  we  have  usually  the  result  of  Com- 
mercialism. 

A  composition  may  be  said  to  have  Temperament  when  it 
possesses  individuality  of  expression. 


THE  true  periods,  or  the  periods  of  Origin,  are  few.  The 
periods  of  revival  are  based  upon  Erudition,  for  in  art 
there  is  nothing  new.  Art  Nouveau,  the  "  newest  "  art,  sprung 
from  our  knowledge  of  the  Japanese.  The  works  of  the  brothers 
Adam  came  from  the  knowledge  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum 
restorations.  Burne-Jones's  style  was  founded  upon  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  pre-Raphaelites,  the  worshippers  at  the  Renaissance 
shrine,  and  thence  we  hark  back  to  Greece,  whose   art   was 

Egyptian. 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  geome- 
try, a  science  originated  through  the 
necessity  of  resurveyingthe  Egyptian 
fields  following  each 
inundationof  the  Nile, 
that  developed  the 
beautiful  in  Moorish 
paneled  ceilings, 
Gothic  traceries,  guil- 
loche  work,  Greek  and 


12  The  Decorative  Periods 

Roman  band  motifs  and  diaper  pat- 
terns. We  can  go  back  to  the  time 
of  Rameses  II,  1340  B.  C,  to  the 
practice  of  geometry,  and  all  that 
was  accomplished  in  geometrical 
design  may  be  attributed  to  the 
Erudition  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 


ASSYRIANS  and  Egyptians  ex- 
pressed their  Religion  in  their 
designs.  The  floriculture  of  the 
country  had  its    meaning.      The 

beetle,  the  winged  serpent,  the  palm,  the  papyrus,  the  lotus — all 
had  religious  significance.  In  later  years  Christian  symbolism 
permeated  the  Byzantine,  Gothic  and  Romanesque  forms  of 
decoration,  and  influenced  also  the  arts  of  the  Mohammedans 
who  conquered  Constantinople,  the  arts  of  the  Saracens  who  set- 
tled in  lower  Italy  and  Spain,  and,  through  the  conquests  of  the 
Crusaders,  penetrated  the  Far  East.  Every  line  in  true  decora- 
tion is  suggested  by  a  thought  that  arises  from  Religious  Con- 
viction or  out  of  the  effort  to  perpetuate  some  axiom  of  Truth  or 
Beauty. 

COMMERCIALISM  has  been  much  deplored  as  a  disturbing  in- 
fluence in  art,  but  I  take  it,  nevertheless,  that  Commer- 
cialism is  a  stimulus  which  creates,  like  new  soil  or  new  seed. 
The  Queen  Anne  period  in  England  was  a  period  created  by  the 
furnishings  introduced  by  the  Dutch  traders.  The  Chinese  in- 
fluence in  England  and  France  during  the  Eighteenth  Century 
was  primarily  Commercial.  The  Persian  spirit,  conspicuous  in 
the  Sixteenth  Century  Italian  work,  and  the  East  Indian  spirit 
of  the  later  century,  as  well  as  the  influences  which  affected  con- 
temporary Spanish  and  Portuguese  design,  were  all  Commercial. 
Prior  to  the  discovery  of  America,  Portugal  and  Spain,  envious 
of  the  trade  in  the  East  controlled  by  their  neighbors  of  the 
Mediterranean,  endeavored  to  find  a  Western  passage  to  India. 
We  know  the  result  of  Columbus's  voyage,  but  it  is  well  in 


THE    DOLPHIN 


connection  with  this  subject  to  remember  that  it  was  prompted 
by  that  Commercialism  which  spread  the  Eastern  influence 
throughout  Europe,  and  which  reflected  the  Eastern  imprints 
upon  the  arts. 


AND  Temperament  !  Decorative  art  has  been  and  always  will 
be  subjected  to  the  influences  of  Temperament.  Decora- 
tion is  the  impulse  of  nature.  We  find  it  in  the  budding  of  the 
flower.  We  find  it  in  the  child's  delight  over  a  bit  of  ribbon. 
The  bud  in  nature  will  evolve  new  forms  and  colors  according  to 
the  soil  and  culture,  and  Art  shows  the  same  subtle  changes. 
In  nature  we  note  the  change  as  we  travel,  north  or  south.  In 
art  we  note  the  change,  not  alone  as  affected  by  topography. 
Erudition,  Religion  and  Commercial  influence,  bqt  Tempera- 
ment. Given,  for  example,  a  Renaissance  theme  of  classic  re- 
vival and  we  find  the  composition  of  the  English^German,  Italian, 


14 


The  Decorative  Periods 


the  Fleming,  Spaniard,  Frenchman,  all  totally  different.  Into 
the  work  of  each  is  unconsciously  injected  his  native  Tempera- 
ment. We  may  find  a  new  handling  of  a  theme,  but  it  is  simply 
Temperamental.  The  sturdiness  of  Dutch  character  stands  out 
in  Dutch  workmanship.  The  Puritan  spirit  is  betrayed  in  the 
Jacobean  type  of  decoration.  We  have  no  need  of  history  to 
follow  the  Temperament  of  the  French  people.  Excess  and 
sensuousness  are  suggested  in  the  voluptuous  decorations,  which, 
encouraged  in  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  marked  the  history  of  the 
people  down  to  the  Revolution,  when  Temperament  changed 
and  adopted  a  simpler  form,  in  turn  succeeded  by  the  martial 
spirit  aroused  by  Napoleon's  career. 

There  are  only  five  distinct  orders  in  classic  architecture,  but 
out  of  these  spring  innumerable  related  parts,  all  stamped  by  the 
influences  of  Erudition,  Religion,  Commercialism  and  Temper- 
ament. 


Pilgrim  Monks  at  the  Court  of  Justinian,  Byzantium,  527-560 
A.  D.,  disclosing  silkworms  smuggled  from  China  This  was 
the  beginning  of  silk  weaving  in  Europe. 


EGYPTIAN 


EGYPTIAN- 


BABYLONIAN— ASSYRIAN 
PERSIAN 


EGYPTIAN— Old  Empire,  4000-3000  B.  C.  Middle  Empire,  3000-2100 
B.  C.  New  Empire,  2100-324  B.C.  Gr.cco  Roman  Revival,  324  B.  C. 
to  300  A.  D. 

Egpyt,  332  B.  C,  became  a  Greek  kingdom  ;  30  B.  C.  became  a 
Roman  province  until  the  Mohammedan  invasion,  640  A.  D. 

ASSYRIAN — Colonized  probably  from  Babylonia,  1900  B.  C. 

Height  of  Assyrian  influence  in  art,  1300  B.  C.-625  B.  C. 

The  inhabitants  of  Media,  Persia  and  Babylonia  were  subjects  of 
Assyria.  In  640  B.  C.  the  Medes  revolted  and  established  the  Median 
Empire. 

The  Assyrian  Kingdom  ended  608  B.  C,  when  the  Empire  of 
Babylon  was  establislied  and  the  Persians  also  became  independent. 

In  55S  B.  C.  the  Medes  were  conquered  by  the  Persians  and  the 
Persian  Empire  was  established. 

OLD  BABYLONIAN— 4000  B.C. 

PERSIAN — In  538  the  Babylonian  Empire  was  incorporated  by  the  Per- 
sians— thus,  the  Persians  inherited  the  arts  of  Assyria,  Media  and 
Babylonia. 

THE  Student  should  carefully  analyze  the  above  brief  history, 
which  explains  the  similarity  between  the  Egyptian,  Assy- 
rian, Babylonian  and  Persian  characteristics  of  design. 

To  Babylon  both  Egypt  and  As- 
syria owed  much. 

The  artistic  influences  of  liaby- 
lonia  were  widespread,  and   were 
strongly  exercised  in  decoration  1800 
B.  C.  to  538  B.  C. 

Assyrian  art  was  substantially  a 


THE    rArYRUS.BVD 


\ 


\ 


The  Decorative  Periods 


23 


AS-~VK  IAN 


example,  in  Fig- 
ure 5,  the  lotus 
bud,  pad  and 
blossom  as  they 
appear  in  nature. 
Figure  3  shows 

the  blossom 
when   it   begins 
to  wilt.  Figure 
■'^^^ '*''•"'  6  shows  the 

bud,  pad  and  blossom  as  represented 
on  an  ancient  Egyptian  monument ; 
I,  2  and  4  show  the  decorative  forms. 
Figures  i  and  2,  Plate  2,  are  from  a 
ceiling  in  Athens;  Figure  3  from  a  Me- 
di:cval  tile  ;  4  from  an  altar;  5  an  an- 
cient Etruscan  gem  ;  Figure  6,  a  conventionalized  Egyptian 
form  ;  7  is  a  detail  from  the  Myth  of  Osiris  ;  8,  an  ancient  treat- 
ment ;  9  shows  the  Sphinx,  and,  to  our 
mind,  the  origin  of  the  fleur-de-lis  in  the 
lotus  trefoil.  The  trefoil  has  been  al- 
ways popular  in  decoration  as  well  as 
heraldry,  because  anything  symbolizing 
the  Trinity  seemed  to  confer  blessing 
and  protection. 

Very  little  is  known  of  ancient  Egypt 
except  from  what  still  remains  as  evi- 
dence of  its  former  greatness  :  the  Pyra- 
mids, the  Labyrinth,  containing  3,000 
apartments  and  the  Catacombs,  consist- 
ing of  excavations  of  great  extent,  used 
for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  Egyptian  art 
was  at  its  height  3,000  years  ago,  and  its 
most  distinguishing  features  consist  of 
hieroglyphics,  nude  human  figures, 
winged  globes,  the  ram,  the  sparrow 
ASSYRIAN  hawk,  dung  beetle,  symbolic  animals  and 


24 


The  Decorative  Periods 


boo 


^iA 


^--^yj^:)  foliage,  especially  that 

of  the  palm  and  lotus, 

the  latter  a  symbol  of 
»   fecundity  and  life ;  for 

the  lotus  was  the  first 

flower    to   spring   up 

after    the    waters  of 

the  overflowing  Nile 

had    subsided    and 

came  as  a  harbinger 

of  promise  and  pros- 
perity.     The    first 

houses  built  in  Egypt     ^"^    (o^     (^ 

were  of  stoutly  bound 
bunches  of  papyrus  gathered  from  the  riverside,  and  ulti- 
mately when  buildings  were  formed  of  stone  an  attempt  was 
made  to  perpetuate  this  primitive  form  of  architecture  by  im- 
itating in  the  stone  the  appearance  of  the  old 
reeds.  The  decorative  style  of  the  papyrus 
reeds  was  impressed  upon  the  people  so 
strongly  that  they  entered  in  some  form  into 
all  manner  of  Egyptian  decoration,  from  the 
full  leaf  to  the  strap-like  roots.  The  lotus 
plant  is  frequently  used  as  a  symbol  of  im- 
mortality. The  palm  has  been  handed  down 
to  the  Greeks  as  a  symbol  of  victory,  and  the 
Christian  church  of  to-day  regards  it  as  a 
token  of  peace.  The  winged  globe  consists 
of  a  ball  or  globe,  on  the  sides  of  which  are 
two  asps  with  exten- 
ded wings,  five  to 
eight  times  the  diam- 
eter of  the  globe.  We 
see  these  in  almost 
all    treatments    of 


'Vil»VWM-l-'-J-*«JWJWIi.ti^:^^>g, 


EGYPTIAN 


V     Egyptian    work,    ex- 
pressing    by   the 


ex- 


The  Decorative  Periods 


25 


tended  wings  the  power  of  protection  afforded  by  the  Egyptian 
Government. 

A  system  of  decoration  called  "  labyrinth  "  decoration  comes 
down  to  us  from  the  Egyptians.  An  Egyptian  palace,  consist- 
ing of  a  number  of  buildings  so  arranged  that  one  became  lost 
in  the  corridors,  was  termed  a  labyrinth. 

A  garden  labyrinth  consisted  of  winding  walks  interlaced  so 
that  one  knew  not  which  path  to  take.  A  decorative  form  con- 
sisting of  interlacing  lines  is  called,  thus,  labyrinth  decoration. 

Erequently  we  find  the  so-called  Sacred  Tree,  or  the  winged 
male  figure,  symbolical  of  the  soul;  the  winged  griffms,  lions 
and  bulls  with  human  faces.  The  Assyrian  form  indulged  in 
geometrical  figures,  interlacings,  zig-zag  lines  and  rosettes,  but 
they  all  bore  more  or  less  the  impress  of  Egyptian  art. 


KIG.  F 


FIG. 


CHINESE— JAPANESE 

Chinese— MYTHIC   teriod   3500  n.  C.-2200  b.  c.  ;  first  emperor  2200 

B.   C.   (CONFUCIUS    500   B.   C.) 

Japanese — 1200  B.  C.-1901  A.  D. — empire  estaiu.ishkd  660  b.c 

Tin:  Chinese  decorative  arts  date  back  to  3500  B.  C.  This  was 
the  Mythic  Period.  Confucius  was  3000  years  later.  The 
characteristics  which  we  are  called  to  deal  with  are  of  that  form 
of  color  and  design  best  expressed  under  the  first  Emperor,  22cx> 
B.  C,  and  have  lasted  for  over  4000  years. 

E.vactly  when  or  how  these  design  qualities  became  intro- 
duced into  the  Chinese  crafts  is  of  little  consequence.  Wc  know 
that  we  find  many  of  the  details  that  we  look  upon  as  essentially 
Grecian,  like  the  Greek  fret,  in  Chinese  design,  antedating  the 
Greek  by  hundreds  of  years.  We  notice  also,  especially  in  the 
floral  work  of  the  Chinese,  a  very  great  deal  that  is  similar  to 
that  which  has  been  perpetuated  in  the  early  Indian  work. 

There  is  a  close  affinity  between  the  design  workers  of  India 
and  China,  due  possibly  to  the  Buddhist  religion,  which  j^ermits 
the  introduction  of  animal  details,  and  as  religion  has  always  had 
much  to  do  with  the  formation  of  the  Decorative  Periods  this 
fact,  while  not  especially  important,  is  interesting. 

The  priesthood  of  Egypt  encouraged  design  symbolism  ;  the 


28  The  Decorative  Periods 

returning  Crusaders,  with  their  Christian  fervor,  spread  Byzan- 
tine influences ;  the  Gothic  was  a  churchly  art ;  the  Celtic  was  of 
religious  origin,  and  the  Buddhist  faith  undoubtedly  influenced 
much  that  was  in  common  between  India  and  China. 


IT  IS  impossible  to  exactly  define  the  distinguishing  features  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  productions.  An  active  commercial 
intercourse  had  been  for  many  years  kept  up  between  these 
countries,  and  the  result  of  their  mutual  teaching  and  learning 
being  similar,  a  uniformity  of  taste  as  well  as  technical  practice 
resulted. 

The  countries  were  so  closely  associated  for  centuries  and 
there  was  so  much  in  common  in  the  flora,  religion  and  the  cus- 
toms that  it  was  only  natural  that  the  decorative  temperament 
should  have  been  similar.  In  technical  skill,  however,  the  intel- 
lectual development  of  Japan  induced  in  time  an  advanced  style, 
and  we  find  the  Japanese  more  partial  to  geometrical  figures, 
requiring  a  nicety  of  construction  and  a  precision  of  drawing 
not  always  to  be  found  in  the  Chinese  work.  While  the  Chinese 
ornamented  their  lacquer  work,  for  instance,  with  types  from 
nature,  easily  drawn,  requiring  little  technical  knowledge,  the 
Japanese  used  linear  ornaments. 

With  the  coming  of  Confucius,  500  B.  C,  other  influences 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Japanese ;  but  if  we  should  attempt 
to  go  into  religious  symbolism  the  subject  would  be  inexhausti- 
ble. 

For  centuries  the  artists  of  China  and  Japan  have  talked  to 

the  masses  by  the  symbolism  of  their  design  work.  As  certain 
lines  on  a  child's  map  mean  the  mountains  and  certain  parallel 
lines  around  the  land  mean  the  ocean,  so  certain  lines  in  Japan- 
ese work  expresses  the  earth,  the  heavetis  and  the  ocean.  The 
following  is  an  outline  of  the  sort  of  philosophy  which  is  based 
on  the  principles  of  their  art : 

All  forms  of  art,  either  plant  or  animal,  may  be  considered 
as  the  products  of  heaven  and  earth.  Heaven  means  here  rain, 
sunlight,  etc. 


NeS-4t'iv/e  Q.ye/^PzJ^ 


Positive 


I-IG.   3 


Man  is  the  crown  of  the  creation,  and  it  is  therefore  the 
representative  of  life.  Heaven  is  called  the  positive  or  male 
principle,  while  earth  or  water  stands  for  the  negative  or  femi- 
nine principle.  The  universe  is  the  phenomenon  of  these  prin- 
ciples according  to  the  idea  of  the  ancient  Japanese. 

The  form  of  heaven  was  circular  and  is  expressed  according- 
to  Figure  i  of  the  illustrations.  The  form  of  the  earth  is  ex- 
pressed as  Figure  2,  with  the  water  on  the  lower  portion  of  the 
square.  By  cutting  this  square  from  the  north  or  the  south  we 
have  a  triangle,  and  this  triangle  represents  the  combination  of 
the  east  and  west  or  the  male  and  female.  The  triangular  form 
thus  obtained  is  a  standard  by  which  flowers  and  plants  are  trained 
to  grow. 

The  human  figure  is  frequently  shown  standing  upright  with 
the  two  hands  clasped  in  the  front,  forming  thus,  if  joined  by 


^]^j^    ^r^^r^ 


^^,4^^ 


The  Decorative  Periods  33 

lines,  a  triangle.  If  the  hands  are  extended  to  the  right  and 
left  it  forms  a  square  or  the  shape  of  the  earth.    (Fig.  3.) 

These  principles  enter  into  the  raising  of  trees,  queer  little 
stunted-looking  forms  that  one  hardly  understands,  but  they 
have  a  certain  religious  significance  which  enters  into  designs 
and  means  much  more  than  we  have  the  space  to  explain. 

Symbolism  of  this  character  in  the  raising  of  flowers  and 
plants,  as  well  as  in  application  to  designs,  has  a  meaning  which 
takes  a  life  study  to  thoroughly  understand. 

The  sort  of  grotesque  which  enters  into  the  Chinese  deco- 
ration is  very  seriously  accepted  by  the  people.  We  see  a  bow- 
legged  man  with  arms  extended,  and  we  are  inclined  to  regard 
the  figure  as  ludicrous,  but  the  attitude  is  one  which  is  necessary 
to  the  philosophy  of  the  symbolism,  which  stipulates  that  the 
head  and  the  feet  and  the  finger  tips  of  this  figure,  intended  to 
represent  the  world,  shall  be  so  proportioned  that  a  perfect  square 
may  be  drawn  from  the  head  to  the  finger  tips  and  thence  to  the 
feet.  To  do  this  the  arms  must  be  lengthened  and  the  legs  must 
be  shortened.     Hence  a  grotesque  figure. 

To  the  understanding,  however,  of  one  versed  in  the  philoso- 
phy of  such  design  this  creature  is  beautiful ;  for  here  dwell  a 
people  who,  when  the  sun  or  moon  is  eclipsed,  believe  the  lumi- 
nous orb  has  been  swallowed  by  some  monster,  and  they  come 
with  cans  and  kettles  to  make  rough  music  and  thus  cause  a  dis- 
gorging of  the  luminary.  These  mythical  monsters  are  jiictured 
by  the  artists  as  only  people  who  believe  in  dragons  and  that  sort 
of  thing  can  ever  hope  to  present  them. 

I  can  scarcely  imagine  a  disbeliever  can  produce  such  mar- 
velous examples  of  the  chimerical ;  it  takes  an  artist  saturated  in 
the  belief  in  them. 

The  difference  between  the  Celtic  and  the  Japanese  and 
Chinese  grotesqueries  rests  in  the  treatment.  The  Celtic  is 
purely  decorative.  The  drawing  of  an  animal  figure  is  clearly 
subordinated  to  the  decorative  necessities,  while  the  figures  of 
Japan  and  China  are  so  full  of  detail  as  to  suggest  a  minute 
study  of  the  real  thing,  and  the  design  surroundings-are  subordi- 
nated to  the  ficfure. 


JAPANESE 


The  Decorative  Periods  35 

It  has  been  said  by  Monsieur  \'on  Brandt  that  "a  China- 
man is  born  a  Confucionist,  Hves  as  a  Taoist  and  dies  a  Budd- 
hist," which  simply  means  that  while  a  nominal  adherent  of  the 
old  State  religion  he  is  all  his  life  much  given  to  superstitious 
practices  and  at  his  death  is  surrounded  b)'  the  ceremonies  of 
Buddhism. 

The  State  religion  consists  of  certain  rites  laid  down  in  tiic 
code  of  the  Empire.  The  altar  to  heaven  is  round  ;  that  to 
earth  is  square.  When  the  Kmperor  worships  heaven  he  wears 
a  robe  of  blue,  and  blue  is  the  color  depicting  celestial  matters. 
When  he  worships  the  earth  his  robes  are  yellow,  and  yellow  is 
the  color  pertaining  to  all  worldly  affairs  ;  when  the  sun,  he  wears 
red  ;  when  the  moon,  white. 

Dr.  Morrison  says  "Buddhism  in  China. is  decried  by  the 
learned,  laughed  at  by  the  profligate,  yet  followed  by  all."  Never- 
theless, there  is  a  Mohammedan  influence  which  has  affected  the 
design  character  and  the  arts  as  practiced  in  the  north  and  west 
of  China,  and  here  the  influences  of  India  and  Persia  are  noticeable 

In  its  hatred  of  idolatry  thelvoran  forbids  the  depicting  of 
anything  in  earth  or  heaven,  and  ^his  law  has  forced  the  art  of 
the  strict  Mohammedan  into  narrow  channels,  and  we  have  the 
outcome  of  the  conventionalized  flower  treatment. 

But  there  are  few  strict  Mohammedans  in  China,  and  the 
Buddhist  faith  gives  full  license  to  the  representation  of  animal 
forms.  The  student  is  commended  to  the  study  of  "Chinese 
Porcelain, "  by  W.  G.  Garland,  issued  with  485  illustrations,  for 
nothing  short  of  such  a  book  can  properly  present  the  mytho- 
logical, the  religious,  the  symbolic  and  emblematic  characteristics 
of  Chinese  design. 

The  Chinese  employ,  in  their  decorative  work,  an  endless 
list  of  deities,  demons,  monsters,  animals  of  all  sorts.  Their 
eight  immortals  are  frequently  introduced  ui)on  fan  work  and 
embroideries;  in  fact,  the  figure  eight  is  somewhat  of  a  favorite 
with  them.  They  have  eight  lucky  emblem.s,  eight  immortals, 
eight  precious  things,  eight  Buddhist  symbols,  eight  ordinary 
symbols.  They  have  four  fabulous  animals,  and  to  the  terrestrial 
branches  twelve  other  animals  bear  svmbolic  relations. 


WITH   THE    EMPRESS    DOWAGER 


w 
z 
z 

< 

z 

w 
u 

o 


PERSIAN 


INUIAN 


EASTERN— ORIENTAL— MOHAMMEDAN 

The  terms  Eastern,  Oriental  and  Mohammedan  are  used  interchange- 
ably. TheOrient  has,  however,  distinct  geographic  boundries  which  include 
India  and  China,  but  do  not  include  the  countries  of  the  Mediterranean. 
For  convenience,  however,  we  include  in  the  classification  the  Mohammedan 
districts. 

India— 2000  B.  C. — first  period  2000  n.  c. — 1525  a.  d.  (hrah- 

MA  1400  B.  C.-5OO  H.  C;  BUDDHA  5OO  B.  C.)  ;  MOGUL  EMPIRE 
1525  A.  D.-I748  A.  D  ;  ENGLISH  CONTROL  I748  A.  D.;  ENGLISH 
EMPIRE  1858  A.  D. 

Persia — 558  B.C. — Persian  empire  558  b.  c;  extending  with 

SOME  interruptions  TO  64I  A.  D  ;  CONQUERED  BY  THE 
SARACENS  (ARABS),  BECAME  MOHAMMEDAN  64I  A.  D. 

Arabian — 571  A.  D  — mohammed  born  571  a.  d.,  died  632  a.  d.; 

SARACEN    dominion  57I-I258;    TURKISH  DOMINION   I258. 

Moorish — 711  A.   D-t6io  A.   D. — conquest  of  spain   711; 

MOORS  EXPELLED  FROM  SPAIN  161O;  ALHAMBRAIC  PERIOD 
I2OO-I3OO. 

Turkish — 1298  A.  D. — Asiatic  empire  established  1298  a.  d.; 

EUROPEAN  empire  ESTABLISHED  I453  A.  D. 

Persian,  Indian,  Arabian,  Moorish  and  Turkish  designs  have 
characteristics  in  common.  It  is  not  difficult  to  differen- 
tiate between  these  five  forms  of  Oriental  design  if  we  bear  in 
mind  that — 

Persian  art  was  mythological  and  assimilated  much  of  the 
Assyrian  and  Egyptian.  In  641  A.  D.  Persia  was  conquered  by 
the  Saracens,  and  from  that  period  its  art  was  dominated  by  the 
dictates  of  the  Mohammedan  creed  interdicting  the  use  of 
animal  figures. 

Prior  to  Mohammedan  influence  animal  life  was  commonly 
depicted  in  designs. 

Turkish  design  is  hybrid,  and  bears  the  imprint  of  the  arts 


50 


The  Decorative  Periods 


of  Phoenicia  and  the  Holy  Land,  Assyria, 
Babylonia  and  Chaldea.     Religion  Mo- 
hammedan. 

Indian  design  from  500  B.  C.  to  1748 
had  been  Buddhist,  and  the  laws  of  the 
Koran  never  affected  Indian  art. 

Arabian  is  purely  Mohammedan  and 

the  Moorish  descends  from  the  Arabian. 

At   the  very   outstart    our   study   of 

Oriental  art  must  be  illuminated  by  an 

appreciation  of  the  religious  influences  of 

the   Koran,  the   Mohammedan  bible, 

which  forbade  the  depiction  of  life  forms. 


United  by  a  common  faith,  early  INDIAN  design  was  natur- 
ally pure.  Nor  was  it  hedged  and  confined  by  any  interdictions. 
It  was  characterized  by  an  overflowing  abundance,  showing 
a  fantastic  temperament,  profuse  in  richness  with  ever-recurring 
motifs,  to  be  found  principally  among  the  native  plants  and 
flowers. 

The  first  period  of  Indian  art  was  influenced  by  the 
Brahman  religion,  and  was  replete  with  mythological  motifs.  The 
Mohammedan  period  showed  naturally  Mohammedan  tendencies 
in  art,  but  there  is  no  form  of  Oriental  art  which  was  less  conven- 
tionalized and  more  liberal  to  decorative  treatment  than  the 
Indian.  Scroll,  floral  and  mythological  suggestion  appeared  in 
•frequent  juxtaposition  with  religious  symbolism  and  the  depic- 
tion of  animal  life,  but  it  was  all  presented  in  good  decorative 
spirit.  Birds  in  life-like  plumage,  flowers  and  animals,  verdure 
conventionalized  design,  like  the  cashmere  pattern,  were  all  util- 
ized. 

The  PERSIAN  Empire,  prior  to  its  conquest  by  the  Ara- 
bians, was  saturated  with  the  spirit  of  mythology.  Like  the 
Eo-yptians  and  Assyrians,  the  fabled  animals,  serpents  and 
birds,  had  a  deep  religious  significance  and  were  utilized  in 
designs. 

When  the  Arabians  conquered  Persia  the  Arabian  charac- 


The  Decorative  Periods 


51 


teristics  were  introduced,  as  may  be  frequently  noted  in  the 
vase  ornamentation  of  Persian  design.  Little  by  little  the 
mythological  character  of  Persian  design,  together  with  life 
forms,  disappeared,  and  the  floral,  arabesque  and  strap  character 
succeeded. 

The  Mohammedan  Persian  is  full  of  conventionalized  florals. 
Like  the  Arabian,  the  design  springs  from  one  root ;  it  is  seldom 
broken.  It  is  what  we  nowadays  call  an  all-over  pattern,  spring- 
ing from  a  base  and  broadening  with  branches  and  tendrils  like 
vegetable  life,  elaborated  with  traceries. 

The  orthodox  ARABIAN,  forbidden  the  depiction  of  animal 
forms,  developed  a  style  of  design  pompous  with  elaborate 
arabesques,  scrolls  and  sweeping  lines  intertwining.  After 
the  conquests  of  Northern  Africa  the  inhabitants  of  Roman  and 
Greek  descent  accepted  the  Mohammedan  faith  and  amalgamated 
with  the  Arabians  under  the  name  of  Moors.  Soon  after,  in 
711,  the  Moors  crossed  to  Spain  and  established  the  MOORISH 
government.  Thus,  with  Arabian  origin,  their  arts,  which  de- 
veloped to  extraordinary  magnificence  and  grandeur,  bore  Arabian 
characteristics.  The  Mohammedan  type  of  design  was  elabo- 
rated, more  details  of  strapwork  being  interlaced  most  ingeni- 
ously. Series  of  designs  were  interwoven  into  a  complex 
ensemble.  The  floral  and  geometrical  details  which  were 
ignored  by  the  Arabians,  were  each  and  every  one  ornamented 


^  iga'irg  "g?  rgq  ^"f  ■•'4> '^^j/iai 


.^>Tif  ^  ^i^^^^^^H^^-^^IH^^  ■ 


J^^^lff  u: 


:?ii'>l®t«IS2§'S6 


PERSIAN 


52 


The  Decorative  Periods 


with  rare  skill  by  the  Moors.  Gold,  red  and  blue  were  much 
used.  The  Moorish  treatment  impresses  one  with  the  idea  of 
one  pattern  interlacing  another.  Inscriptions  were  used  deco- 
ratively ;  hieroglyphics  were  used  ornamentally.  In  the  Al- 
hambra  the  walls  were  covered  with  inscriptions. 

The  Turks  were  nomadic  tribes  converted  to  Mohammedan- 
ism in  the  Seventh  Century.  The  TURKISH  dynasties  reigned 
in  Palestine,  Syria  and  Egypt,  and  under  the  name  of  Turko- 
mans covered  Bokhara.  The  power  of  the  Turks  in  Asia  Minor 
and  the  rapid  expansion  of  the  Mohammedan  faith  in  the  Four- 
teenth Century  gave  great  anxiety  to  all  Christendom.     Floods 


ALHAMBRAIC 


The  Decorative  Periods 


53 


of  crusaders  poured  across  the  Bos- 
phorus,  alarming  the  Greeks  at 
Constantinople,  who  intrigued  with 
the  Turks  to  check  the  Crusade 
movement.  But  this  alliance  bred 
internal  dissension  and  intrigue,  and 
finally  terminated  in  the  surrender 
of  Constantinople,  1453,  to  their 
old  allies;  thus  the  Turkish  I^mpire 
in  Europe  was  established.  Christian 
churches  in  the  conquered  countries 
were  either  changed  by  the  Turks 
into  Masques  or  Christian  artists 
were  charged  with  the  erection  of  new 
buildings.  So  this  and  later  periods  of  Turkish  ornamentation 
were  influenced  by  Byzantine  as  well  as  Arabian  modes,  and 
what  we  are  pleased  to  now  call  Turkish  ornamentation,  cover- 
ing the  Turkish  Empire  in  Europe,  Armenia,  Kurdistan  and 
Mesopotamia,  became  much  confused. 

It  is  significant  that  Mediaeval  art  was  largely  Christian,  and 
when  the  Mohammedans  established  their  European  Empire  in 
Constantinople  Christian  sybolism  and  Mohammedan  symbolism 
were  merged. 

The  geometric  forms  so  much  used  in  Mohammedan  design 
were  apparently  meaningless,  but  they  frequently  represented 
conventionalized  animal  life;  the  Koran  forbidding  any  direct 
representation,  the  artist  utilized  the  life  form  conventionalized. 
The  two  illustrations  that  we  show  are  conventionalized  butter- 
flies, and  give  an  excellent  idea  of  the  method. 


DORIC 


IONIC 


CORINTHIAN 


GRECIAN 

GR.ECO-PELASGIC  1900  H.  C.-13S4  R.  C. ;   DORIC  700  R.  C.  ;   IONIC  600  U.  C. ; 

CORINTHIAN  290  R.  C.  ;   HELLENISTIC  29O  }{.  C.-16S  R.C. 

ETRUSCAN    1040  B.   C.-238   R.  C. 

THE  ancient  Greeks  received  their  first  rudiments  of  art  from 
the   Egyptians,  changing  and  elaborating  the  old  forms. 
One  decorative  device  purely  Greek  is  the  anthemion,  which, 

with  the  acanthus,  can  be  traced 
through  subsequent  centuries  in 
various  forms,  and  we  recognize  it 
as  one  of  the  distinctive  features 
of  the  Renaissance  of  three 
thousand  years  later. 
The  earliest  and  incipient  period 
of  Greek  art  is  generally  termed 
Graxo-Pelasgic. 
The  three  purely  Greek  orders 
are  the  Doric,  a  development  of  the 
seventh   century,   B.  C. ;  Ionic,  a 
development  of   the  sixth  centur)-, 
B.  C. ;  Corinthian,  a  development  of  the  third  century  1^.  C. 

The  Doric  capital,  as  shown  by  the  illustration,  is  exceed- 
ingly simple.  The  Ionic  is  characterized  by  volutes.  The  Cor- 
inthian is  rich  in  elaborati(jn,  with  rows  of  acanthus  leaves  placed 
one  upon  the  other,  with  volutes  above  them  at  each  corner. 


THE  ANTHEMION 


i-l 

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u 

w 
w 
p^ 
o 


The  Decorative  Periods 


57 


Of  all  the  ornamental  styles  which  have  been  borrowed  from 
plants  the  acanthus  is  the  most  popular.  It  was  introduced  by 
the  Greeks,  but  has  been  used  repeatedly  in  innumerable  other 
styles.  Its  popular  application  is  due  to  the  ornamental  possibili- 
ties of  its  beautiful  leaves.  The  Greeks  treated  the  acanthus 
with  sharp-edged,  comparativaly  narrow  leaves.  In  the  Roman 
style  the  tip  of  the  leaves  became  rounder 
and  broader.  The  Byzantine  and  Roman- 
esque styles  again  returned  to  stiffer, 
less  delicate  forms,  and  the  Gothic  gave  the 
leaf  large,  round  bulbous  forms.  The 
acanthus  as  illustrated  here  is  Grecian  in 
style. 

We  hear  of  Grecian  borders,  Grecian  friezes,  and  there  in 
itself  lies  much  of  the  dominant  characteristic  of  Grecian  decora- 
tion. Designs  very  seldom  in  Grecian  were  of  an  all-over  char- 
acter. The  mural  character  was  undertaken  usually  in  borders 
or  friezes.  The  work  was  of  a  character  to  suggest  nowadays  a 
stencil  form.  They  were  lines  little  shaded.  The  Grecians  took 
squares  and  built  within  them.  They  never  indulged  in  broad 
sweeps.  Thus  the  Greek  fret  was  a  design  of  squares,  a  lasting 
feature  modified  and  elaborated  by  innumerable  touches. 

The  Greek  school  is  purely  classical.  In  fact,  the  term 
Classical  in  a  strict  sense  is  applied  to  the  best  periods  of  ancient 
Greek  art,  and  to  the  Roman  arts  where  the  Roman  work  is  the 
result  of  a  direct  following  of  Greek  art. 


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The  Decorative  Periods 


59 


The  Etruscans  were  a  people 
apparently  of  a  northern  race  whose 
art  closely  resem- 
bled Greek.  They 
lived  in  the  country 
north  of  Rome,  and  >/ 
after    a    series    of 


do 

•*»'  4. 


wars   with   the    Romans    lasting    through    the 

Fourth  Century  B.  C.  were  subdued  and  assimi-     (    ^^ 

lated  in  280  V>.  C. 

Early   Roman   art   was   influenced   by  the 
Etruscan;  later  Roman  art  by  the  Greek.     The 

Romans   themselves 
were  too  busy  build- 
ing a  world  empire  to 
develop  an  indepen- 
dent art.     But  after 
they  had  assimilated 
the  Greek  cities  of 
Italy  and  Sicily  and 
of  the  Peloponnesus 
and  the  country  to 
the  north — in  the 
Third  and  Second 
Centuries  B.  C. — the 
new  conditions  under 


1. 


WALL  DfCO(\ATlOn    in  THE. 
CA5A  DE.L  LABlRlHTO  POnPEll 


POMPEIIAN 


THE  RENAISSANXE 

rREATMFNT  OF 

I'OMFF.IIAN 


ETRUSCAN 


GREEK 


Cue  lEAf  C  A  RD'-vA'-  di"vCm   3"'Ct'''HW 


^^N^t■OM■  DOMESTIC  EQ^V  ITW] 
1?^  tTCONSOKD f^ 


nflm  1111111 


m 


m 


^ 

|S1 

[a 

1 

ill 


CELTIC 


JAPANESE  AND  GREEK 


JAPANESE 


0»\CO<.  WAVC. 


62 


The  Decorative  Periods 


which  Greek  artists  worked  and  the  immense  size  of  the  build- 
ings that  were  demanded  by  the  world-conquerors  created  a 
distinctive  Roman — or  Graeco-Roman — architecture  and  orna- 
ment. With  the  spread  of  Christianity  it  became  transformed 
into  Christian  Roman  (Mediaeval  Roman  or  Byzantine)  art,  whose 
most  famous  periods  are  those  of  Constantine,  who  adopted 
Christianity  as  the  State  religion  of  the  Roman  Empire  and 
removed  the  capital  of  the  Empire  to  Constantinople  and  of 
Justinian  (527-565  A.  D.). 


The  Decorative  Periods 


63 


Ml  11^ 


One  associates  the  square  fret  with  Greek 

art,  but  the  Chinese  used  it  two  thousand  years 

before,  and  the  Japanese  and  Moors  also 

utilized  it  in  a  modified  form.     The  Greek 

wave  and  Greek  guilloche  can  be  traced  back 

to  the  Egyptian  and  Assyrian,  and  the  use  of 

Celtic  fret  is  also  interesting  in  its  relations 

to  the  Greek  form. 

Another  symbolism  which   is   much  used 

and  which  one  finds  in  the  Persian  as  well  as  the 

Christian  art,  is  the  Tree  of  Life.     It  is  shown 

in  different  forms,  the  terminals  showing 

sometimes  the  acanthus  details  here  illustrated, 

and  sometimes  cones  or  lotus  buds  entwined 

in  vines.     Although  closely  associated  with 

ecclesiastical  decoration  and  representing  the 

genealogy  of  Christ,  the  symbolism  is  traced 

back  to  Assyria  and  Egypt,  2CK)0  years  before 

Christ. 

The   Christian  Tree    of    Life    is   usually 

termed  the 

Jesse  Tree.     It 

represents  the 

genealogy  of 

Christ  as  it  is 

given  in  the 

Gospel  of 


W^^ 


Ct>T»TlAl«  O^NrCO  riMFt 


St.  Matthew. 
The    form    of 
trees   of   life   covers   one   gen- 
eral principle,  but  varies  in  de- 
tails. 


ROMAN— POMPEIIAN 

Roman— 753  B.  €-455  A.  D. 
PoMPEiiAN  — 100  B.  C.-79  A.  D. 


THE  Roman  Empire,  founded  750  years  B.  C,  was  the  fourth 
great  empire  of  antiquity. 

The  Romans,  for  want  of  an  artistic  style  of  their  own,  were 
dependent  at  first  upon  the  Greeks,  but  instead  of  following  the 
simplicity  of  that  style  they  exaggerated  the  decorative  treat- 
ment. 

In  accordance  with  their  love  for  pomp  and  splendor,  Ro- 
mans had  a  predilection  for  the  Corinthian  order,  which  they 
elaborated  with  fine  artistic  feeling ;  the  Panthenon  at  Rome  is 
a  good  example. 

We  find  the  Roman  style  full  of  dolphins  and  winged  horses 
and  volutes,  extravagant  but  beautiful  in  decorative  imagination. 
The  different  forms  of  leaves  are  idealized  in  a  manner  so  that 
their  natural  origin  is  hardly  to  be  recognized.  The  acanthus, 
oak  leaves,  laurel,  pineapple,  vine,  palm,  ivy,  poppy  and  rich 
floral,  fruits  and  figure  work  were  much  employed. 

It  is  difficult  to  treat  of  the  Renaissance  Period  without 
bearing  well  in  mind  all  these  characteristics  of  Roman  art. 

The  more  that  one  studies  the  five  orders  recognized  in  clas- 
sical architecture  the  more  one  is  impressed  by  the  unusual  beau- 
ties embodied  in  the  Greek  Ionic,  Doric,  Corinthian  and  the 
Roman  Composite  and  Tuscan,  the  latter  being  a  form  very  simi 


< 

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a 

c 

c 

o 
U      . 

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5    C 


O 

a 

o 


>-l     ■— • 


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o 

u 

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he    O 
O     ai 


y. 

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C: 

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66  The  Decorative  Periods 

lar  to  the  Greek  Doric.  There  is  a  class  of  unthinking  people 
who  shrink  at  the  suggestion  of  a  thing  that  is  classic,  believing 
that  it  lacks  the  pleasure-giving  qualities  of  what,  for  want  of  a 
better  term,  we  are  apt  to  call  "popular"  design;  but  the  term 
classic  is  in  reality  an  expression  applied  to  the  highest  type  of 
art,  and  whether  it  is  of  music,  literature  or  decoration,  a  thing 
that  is  classic  is  the  most  lasting.  To  the  people  who  like  "popu- 
lar" things,  the  classical  is  really  the  most  popular,  a  fact  evident 
when  you  consider  that,  in  the  case  of  the  Greek  and  Roman, 
it  has  lived  for  centuries.  With  music  it  is  the  same.  The 
melody  that  we  term  "popular"  and  that  we  say  we  prefer  be- 
cause it  is  not  so  severely  "classical"  as  some  other  things, 
jingles  in  our  ear  for  two  or  three  months  at  most  and  is  then 
forgotten,  or  if  it  recurs  again,  it  is  distasteful  as  a  remem- 
brance. 

A  study  of  the  details  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  decoration 
has  been  a  source  of  joy  to  all  lovers  of  the  beautiful.  The 
Ionic,  or  style  embodying  the  volute  principles,  was  introduced 
600  years  B.  C,  the  Corinthian,  290  B.  C.;  and  it  is  the  Corin- 
thian style  which  appealed  to  the  splendor-loving  people  of  the 
Roman  Empire  and  developed  the  Composite,  which  combined 
the  Greek  Ionic  and  Corinthian. 

CLOSELY  following  the  Roman  came  the  Pompeiian.  The  most 
beautiful  form  of  mosaic  work  was  undoubtedly  done  by 
the  Romans,  who  produced  not  only  geometrical  mosaics,  as  we 
observe  in  so  many  floors  excavated  at  Pompeii,  but  flowers, 
animals,  still  life,  human  and  divine  figures,  even  completed  pic- 
tures. The  materials  used  were  stones  of  different  colors,  chiefly 
marble,  and  the  designs  were  exquisite.  The  wall  paintings  found 
at  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  give  us  some  idea  of  the  lost 
Grecian  paintings,  for  most  of  the  Pompeiian  as  well  as  Roman 
works  are  reproductions  of  originals  by  Greek  masters. 

The  apartments  of  the  Pompeiian  house  were  all  without 
windows.  Walls  were  divided  into  a  dado,  a  middle  and  an  upper 
section.  The  dado  generally  had  a  black  ground  with  simple 
ornaments  or  linear  decorations. 


The  Decorative  Periods 


67 


The  purple,  green,  blue  or  violet  ground  of  the  middle  space 
was  enlivened  with  one  or  more  figures  or  landscapes  having  or- 
namental borders. 

The  upper  space  was  usually  white,  enlivened  with  graceful 
scenes  in  various  colors.  There  were,  however,  apartments,  the 
walls  of  which  began  with  yellow  dadoes  and  terminated  with 
black  friezes.  Besides  very  rich  arabesc|ues,  there  were  garlands, 
fruit,  masks,  candelabra,  animals,  which,  imitating  nature  with 
great  fidelity,  arrested  the  eyes  of  the  beholder.  The  walls 
always  terminated  at  the  top  in  a  small  painted  stucco  concave, 
from  which  the  ceiling  rose. 


GREER 


BYZANTINE 


ROM.\N 


BYZANTINE 


POMPEIIAN 


I 


BYZANTINE— 328-1453- 

Byzantine — 328  A.   D.-1451  A.  D. — early  328  a.  D.-550    a.  d.;     con- 

STANTINE    I     272-337,   EMPEROR  330   A.  D.  ;  BEST  PERIOD  550  A.  D.-IOOO 
A.  D.  ;  LATE  OR  ITALIAN  PERIOD  lOOO  A.  D.-1451  A.  D. 

Constantine  I,  surnamed  the  Great,  was  born  at  Nissa  272 
A.  D.,  and  died  337  A.  D.  He  became  Emperor  of  Rome 
306  A.  D.,  and  defeated  several  rivals  for  the  throne.  He  was 
the  first  Roman  Emperor  to  adopt  Christianity.  In  328,  while 
preparing  for  battle,  a  cross  appeared  in  the  sky,  and  accepting  it 
as  an  omen  he  embraced  the  new  religion.  With  his  conversion 
Christian  art  emerged  from  the  catacombs,  and  for  700  years  all 
art  and  architecture  was  lavished  on  churches  and  ecclesiastical 
trappings.  In  330  A.  D.  he  removed  the  capital  of  the  Roman 
Empire  from  Rome  to  Byzantium ;  hence  the  name  Byzantine  is 
given  to  all  Christian  art  previous  to  1000  A.  D.  Subsequently 
the  name  of  the  city  was  changed  to  Constantinople,  and  in  1453 
it  became  a  Turkish  city. 

WHEN  Greece  became  a  Roman  province  the  taste  of  the 
Greeks  spread  over  the  Roman  Empire.  On  the  division 
of  the  Roman  Empire  into  the  Eastern  and  Western  Empires, 
Greece  became  attached  to  the  Eastern  Division,  sometimes 
called  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  afterwards  the  Greek  Empire. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  an  end  was  put  to  this  Greek  Empire 
by  Mohammed  II ;  Greece  became  a  Turkish  province. 

The  Greeks,  however,  never  forgot  that  they  were  a  distinct 
people,  and  although  for  four  hundred  years  they  were  under 
subjection  to  the  Turks  they  finally  revolted.  From  this  bit  of 
history  we  can  see  where  the  Byzantine  form  of  decoration  be- 
came influenced  by  the  Greek  and  Roman,  and  we  can  see  also 
how  many  of  the  old  Greek  forms  have  found  their  way  into 


The  Decorative  Periods  71 

Turkish  work,  for  the  Turks  were  so  closely  associated  for  four 
hundred  years  with  the  Greeks  that  they  absorbed  much  of  the 
atmosphere  of  their  art,  especially  that  gorgeous,  resplendent 
form  which  was  practised  in  Byzantium. 

From  the  F'ourth  to  the  Sixth  Century  we  have  what  is  called 
early  Byzantine  or  Oriental  Roman. 

It  was  permeated  by  the  early  Greek  and  Roman  periods 
and  influenced  also  by  the  East.  It  was  a  form  resplendent  in 
gold  and  brilliant  color;  the  groundwork  of  many  of  the  fabrics 
and  many  of  the  paintings  was  all  gold,  consequently  the  other 
colors,  reds,  blues  and  greens,  required  a  very  deep  and  full  tone  ; 
thus  the  Byzantine  color  schemes  may  be  imagined ;  even  in 
enamel  work  gold  was  liberally  used. 

It  was  an  age  of  luxury. 

Byzantine  art  flourished  into  the  Fifteenth  Century,  and  the 
late  Italian  form  found  Byzantine  fabrics,  woven  and  embroid- 
ered, the  most  valued  of  all  textile  works  the  world  over.  This 
range  of  art  treatment  of  over  eleven  hundred  years  was  of  a 
varied  character,  but  in  all  that  was  attempted,  either  of  a  Greek 
or  Roman  character,  or  of  the  more  Oriental  type,  the  gold  and 
deep  primitive  colors  formed  a  distinguishing  color  characteristic. 

Byzantine  style  engrafted  Christian  sentiment  upon  remin- 
iscence of  the  Greek  and  Roman  and  exercised  a  powerful 
influence  on  all  arts  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Mohammed,  or  Mahomet,  the  founder  of  the  religion  bearing 
his  name,  was  born  at  Mecca,  Arabia,  571  A.  D.,  died  at  Medina 
632  A.  D.  His  life  was  largely  spent  in  poverty  and  in  religious 
wars,  and  during  his  life  art  found  no  place  in  the  Mohammedan 
religion.  Later,  however,  when  the  Mohammedans  overran 
Byzantium  and  established  their  capital  in  what  is  now  Constan- 
tinople, they  adopted  liyzantine  art  and  carried  it  through  all 
Southern  Europe  and  Asia. 

The  extent  to  which  Byzantine  or  Christian  Roman  art  was 
dominant  during  the  Middle  Ages  is  not  generally  appreciated. 
Nor  is  an  exact  knowledge  of  what  constituted  Byzantine  art 
possessed  by  many — even  by  those  who  are  leaders  in  the  decora- 
tive profession. 


72 


The  Decorative  Periods 


Yet  the  facts  are  to-day  easily  accessible,  though  in  most 
books  so  presented  as  to  obscure  the  fact  that  for  nine  hundred 
years  (330-1204)  Constantinople  (Byzantium)  was  the  capital  of 
the  Roman  Empire  and  the  centre  of  the  world's  commerce, 
civilization  and  art. 

After  the  capture  of  this  Imperial  city  in  1204  by  the 
Crusaders  from  the  West,  and  the  estabhshment  of  the  Latin 
Empire  (1204-1261),  the  Byzantine  emperors,  though  able  to  re- 
store their  dynasty,  never  attained  their  previous  position  of 
power  and  dignity.  Even  before  1204  Venice  had  succeeded 
Constantinople  as  the  world's  commercial  and  artistic  capital, 
and  with  the  capture  of  Constantinople  in  1453  by  the 
Turks,  the  last  claim  of  Constantinople  to  leadership  dis- 
appeared. 

The  great,  significant  fact  of  Mediaeval  art  is  that  it  was 
Christian.  In  all  the  ancient  historic  styles  there  is  a  close  con- 
nection between   religion   and   art.     After   Christianity  under 

Constantine  became  the  State  re- 
ligion of  the  Roman  Empire,  it 
began  also  to  dominate  art  and 
architecture.     In  the  Eastern  part, 
of  the  Empire  the  new  art,  like  the 
new  religion,  was  inclined   to  be 
Oriental  in  feeling.     In  the  West, 
overrun  and  possessed   by   Ger- 
manic  tribes — Visigoths,  Ostro- 
goths, Burgundians,  Franks,  Lom- 
bards, Saxons,  Danes  and  North- 
men—  Germanic    and    Celtic    in 
fluences  tended  to  differentiate  the 
Christian  Roman  of  the  West  from  | 
Byzantine  forms. 

What   did  most,   however,   to 
alienate  West  from  East  was  dif- 
ference of  language — Greek  being 
the  language  in  Constantinople  and 
BYZANTINE  the  East,  while   Latin  was  the 


The  Decorative  Periods 


71 


language  of  the  West.  The  ^conquests  of  J  ustinian  (527-566),  who 
recovered  Italy  from  the  Germanic  conquerors,  extended  the 
domain  of  Greek  at  the  expense  of  Latin,  and  for  two  cen- 
turies Italy  was  more  Greek  than  Latin.  But  Charlemagne, 
descended  from  the  Prankish  invaders  of  Gaul,  and  founder 
of  a  brief  but  glorious  Franco-German-Italian  Empire,  restored 
Italy  to  the  Latins.  His  coronation  as  Kmperor  in  A.  1). 
800  by  the  Pope  of  Rome  marks  also  the  definite  breaking 
away  of  the  Latin — Roman  Catholic  or  Western — Church  from 
Constantinople. 

Meanwhile,  a  third 
great  language,  Arabic, 
and  a  second  great  re- 
ligion, Mohammedanism, 
had  come  rapidly  to  the 
front.    Founded  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the 
Seventh  Century,  Mo- 
hammedanism spread 
with  lightning  rapidity, 
and  in  a  few  years 
Arabia,  Persia,  Syria, 
Sicily,  Egypt  and  the 
rest  of  Northern  Africa 
and  Spain  were  in  their 
possession.     In  145 1 
they  completed  their 
series  of  wonderful  vic- 
tories by  capturing  Con- 
stantinople. 

About  800,  in  Ger- 
many, an  independent 
style  —  Romanesque — 
began  to  develop,  which 
was  succeeded  400 
years  later  by  Gothic, 
a  style  born  in  P'rance. 


THRONE  OK  TSAR    ALEXIS   M  I  K  IIAI  LOVITCH    (1619-1676) 
BV/ANTl.SK 


ITALIAN 

PERSIAN  INFLURNCH 

SIXTEENTH    CENTURY 


ITALIAN 
SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 


INFLUENCES   OF   MOHAMMEDAN   ART. 


O' 


jNE  may  feel  reasonably  sure  in 

determining  the  pronounced 

periods  of   design,  for  in  fixed 

periods  the  motives  are  traditional 

and  definable,   or  spring  from  a 

germane  root. 

We  can  comprehend  the  Greek, 
the  Roman,  the  Renaissance  and 
the  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth 
Century  French  periods  ;  but  the 
innumerable  evolution  stages,  and 
the  periods  affected  by  commercial 
absorption  or  by  conquest  or  by 
the  spread  of  the  Christian  Re- 
ligion, are  confusing. 
For  example,  the  Saracenic  conquests  carried  the  arts  of  one 
country  to  another  and  combined  and  assimilated  the  Moham- 
medan and  Byzantine  characteristics.     The  Crusaders  also  scat- 
tered the  Byzantine   and   Far   Eastern  art  germs   through  all 


TREE    OK    LIFE 

USED    LATER  IN  CHRISTIAN 

SYMBOLISM 


The  Decorative  Periods 


7S 


Europe,  and  falling  upon  new  soil,  the  seed  developed  art  forms 
the  analysis  of  which  is  frequently  perplexing. 

Out  of  this  chaos  we  shall  attempt  to  give  order. 

The  student  must  understand  at  the  outstart  the  meaning  of 
the  terms  Byzantine  and  Saracenic.  There  is  nothing  which 
bewilders  one  so  much  as  the  failure  to  appreciate  the  synonyms 
of  a  term. 

For  example,  Early  Christian  is  an  expression  frequently 
synonymous  with  Byzantine,  for  Byzantine  was  an  art  full  of 
Christian  symbolism.  Saracenic  is  an  expression  interchange- 
able frequently  with  Moorish,  Moresque,  Morisco,  Mussulman, 
Arabic,  Arabian  and  Alhambraic. 

Sicilian  (Siculo  Saracenic)  is  largely  Saracenic,  and  Vene- 
tian, Persian  and  Indian  are  included  in  the  development  of  By- 
zantine or  Saracenic  art. 

SARACENIC 

THE  Saracens  were  followers  of  Mohammed,  who  was  born  in 
571  A.  D.,  at  Mecca,  Arabia,  and  preached  the  unity  of  God. 
When  in  622  he  fled  from  his  native  land  he  gathered  around 
him  trusted  followers  who  accompanied  him  and  were   called 


Ml    ILIAN 
THIRTEENTH  <  ENTLRV 


BY  Z  A  N  T I  N  V. 


76 


The  Decorative  Periods 


Saracens.  Mohammed  gained  many  victories  over  his  enemies, 
and  at  his  death  left  behind  him  an  ardent  band  who  spread  the 
faith  by  means  of  the  sword.  ^^^^ 

This  was  the  beginning  of  Mohammed^HB|n(^^oham- 
medan  art.  ^B 

Among  the  strict  rules  laid  down  by  the  Koran  wa^ne  pro- 
hibition of  any  representadon  of  living  form,  human,  animal,  or 
even  vegetable.  Hence^^w'  made  general  use  of  geometrical 
decoration,  and  some  of^^Br  designs  were  remarkable  for  in- 
tricacy and  variety.  The  Mohammedans  used  also  strap  work  and 
flat  bands  with  intersecting  lines. 

The  next  development  was  the  employment  of  an  alphabet 
at  once  beautiful  and  sacred. 

This  inscriptional  form  of  design  was  used  very  largely  in 


SARACENIC     ELEVENTH    CENTURY   SILK   DAMASK, 
SHOWING    PERSIAN    AND    BYZANTINE    INFLUENCE 


The  Decorative  Periods 


;; 


conjunction  with  Arabesques,  the  last  of  the  distinctly  Arabian 
motifs  in  decoration. 

The  firs^^|uests  of  the  Mohammedans  were  in  Syria,  at 
that  time  2^^^^i  the  l^yzantine  Empire  ;  thus  Byzantine  in- 
tluen<^^onTOie  earhest  days  crept  into  Arabic  art. 

S^nace  decoration  was  common  to  both  Byzantine  and 
Arabic.     Both  adopted  what  we  term  flat  carving. 

The  Saracens  penetrated  Persi^Jj^d  later  India,  and  then 
living  form  crept  into  their  decoratl 


:rm  na 
ii^H^c 


ITALIAN,  SIXTEENTH   CENTURY.       SHOWING 
FIRST  USE  OF  PINEAPPLE  AS  DESIGN  MOTIVE 


78 


The  Decorative  Periods 


The  law  of  growth  was  carefully  observed. 
Every  leaf  came  out  of  a  stalk ;  every  stalk  out  of  a  stem ; 
every  stem  out  of  a  root,  often  elaborate  in  its  ramifications. 

The  Mohammedans  invaded  Egypt,  appropriated  Turkey, 

established  settlements  in 
Sicily,   where  in   the 
Twelfth   and   Thirteenth 
Centuries  Saracenic  and 
Sicilian  art  were  closely 
affiliated.     The  most  vigor- 
ous type  of  the  Saracenic 
style  is  the  type  that  fol- 
lowed the  invasion  of  Spain, 
where,  assisted  by  the 
Moors,  the  Saracens  found- 
ed an  important  kingdom 
in  711.* 

The   Moors   were  a 

mixed  people,  constituting 

an  important   element  in 

the  population  of  Northern 


SICILIAN.      SHOWING    BYZANTINE    INFLUENCE 


*  Syria,  Palestine,  Persia 
and  Egypt  came  under  Moham- 
medan dominion  between  632 
and  641.     By  709  the  Saracens 
had  extended  their  sway  over 
Northern  Africa  and  the  Sar- 
acen Empire  covered  the  country 
from  Turkestan  to  the  shore  of 
the  Atlantic.     By  711  they  had 
subjugated  nearly  the  whole  of 
Spain.     Sicily  was  conquered 
between  827  and  858  and  early 
in  the  Tenth  Century  they  ex- 
tended their  incursions  into 
Burgundy.     India  was  invaded 
in  711  and  Constantinople  fell 
to  the  Turks  in  i4'53. 


ALHAMBRAIC 


ALHAMBRAIC 


ALHAMBRAIC 


VENETIAN 
FIFTEENTH    CENTURY 


ST.    FRANCIS   OK    ASSIM.       I182-1226 
PREACHING  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINES  TO  THE  MOORS 


^^     '^S^-     ^^      i5i 


1 

FOURTEENTH    CENTURY    DAMASK 

Illustrations  on  three  preceding  passes  selected  by  Professor  Paul 

Schulzty  Director  of  the  Royal  Textile  Museum^  Crefeld. 


The  Decorative  Periods 


89 


VENKTIAN. 
SIXTEKNTH    CENTLRY 


Africa,  Mauris,  Numidians,  Phoenicians, 
Romans  and  Arabs.     They  were  con- 
quered and  converted  by  the  Arabs  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Eighth  Century, 
and  having  embraced  Mohammedanism, 
joined  the   Arabs  in  the   invasion  of 
Spain. 

In  the  Tenth  Century  Moorish  do- 
minion supplanted  that  of  the  Arabs  in 
Northwestern  Africa,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  Eleventh  Century  invaded  Spain 
and  swept  away  the  Arab  kingdoms  that 
had  arisen  on  the  ruins  of  the  Caliphate  of  Cordova.  After  half 
a  century  their  reign  fell  to  pieces.  Although  they  retained  do- 
minion as  the  Kingdom  of  Grenada,  of  which  the  Alhambra  was 
the  fortified  citadel,  and  their  arts  reached  a  height  of  great 
splendor,  constant  warfares  with  the  kings  of  Castile  so  weakened 
them,  that  they  succumbed  finally  in  1492,  and  refusing  to  accept 
Christianity,  were  expelled  from  Spain,  and  began  their  piratical 
career  in  the  Barbary  States. 

Those  who  accepted  the  religion 
came  to  be  known  as  Moriscoes  ;  they 
were  subjected  to  the  most  rigorous  su- 
pervision,  and  any  lapses  from   their 
adopted  religion   were  punished  by  the 
inquisition.     Finally  in  1610  the  last  of 
the  Moors  or  Moriscoes  were  expelled 
from  Spain. 

The  Moorish  style  as  displayed  in 
the   decoration   of   the   Alhambra   was 
called  Alhambraic. 

Mohammedan    art    flourished   in 
Southern  Europe  between  the  Eighth 
and  Fourteenth  Centuries.     In  Constan- 
tinople, which  fell  to  the  Turkish  in  1453, 
and  in  India,  it  still  survives — barely.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^.^ 


BYZANTINE 


THE  character  of  the  Byzantine  form  of  decoration  may  be 
understood  by  the  historic  development  of  the  nation.  It 
included  much  that  was  Greek  and  Roman,  with  adaptions  from 
Persia  and  Syria,  and  all  subjugated  by  the  influence  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  and  its  symbolisms. 

The  sharp  Acanthus  foliage  of  the  Greeks  was  united  with 
the  Christian  cross  and  circle,  and  the  vine  and  the  dove  and  here 
and  there  a  peacock.  The  ceilings  were  domed  and  vaulted, 
Mosaics  were  liberally  used  and  gold  and  silk  and  precious  mar- 
bles and  interlacing  crosses,  circles  and  vines,  were  conspicuous 
details.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  silk  culture  (so  goes  the 
tradition)  was  introduced  into  Europe  in  552  by  two  Persian 
monks  who  had  discovered  the  arts  and  methods  of  silk  raising 
in  China  and  secretly  conveyed  the  silkworm  eggs  to  Con- 
stantinople, where  soon  a  royal  factory  was  established  and  a  state 
monopoly  was  set  up  for  the  manufacture  of  silk  fabrics. 

The  Byzantine  court  thus  held  the  monopoly  in  silk  weaving 
for  many  years. 

Subsequently,  silken  stuffs  were  made  in  Greece,  thence  the 
industry  was  conveyed  through  the  emigration  of  a  Greek  colony 
to  Sicily,  1 1 30,  although  already  at  Palermo  the  Saracens  had 
established  silk  weaving. 

At  about  this  period  Sicilian  decorative  design  became,  as 
one  can  well  imagine,  a  confusion  of  the  Byzantine,  Greek  and 
Saracenic.  We  see  bird  figures  and  animals  placed  back  to  back, 
or  vis-a-vis;  sometimes  fishes  grotesque  and  otherwise  mixed 
with  foliage  and  scrolls  with  Arabic  inscriptions.  To  trace  the 
analysis  of  pattern  throughout  this  period  is  to  trace  the  history 


The  Decorative  Periotls 


91 


of  nations.     Byzantine  design  frequently  leans  toward  the  Greek 
mythological  and  scriptural. 

PERSIAN 

WHEN  the  Arabs  under  Mohammed  (then  called  the  Sara- 
cens) conquered  Persia,  Syria  and  the  countries  south  of 
the  Persian  Sea,  and  invaded  the  borders  of  China  and  India, 
Africa  and  Spain,  the  Mohammedan  influence  was  bound  to 
be  felt. 

Byzantine  art  was  actively  taken  up  in  Italy,  the  Venetians 
preserved  it,  the  Sicilians  were  influenced  by  it,  and,  indeed,  it  is 
due  to  its  magnificence  and  its  dissemination  by  the  Crusaders 
who  disclosed  to  the  barbarous  West  the  artistic  civilizations  of 
Constantinople,  that  the  late  Gothic  and  Renaissance  eras  in  art 
were  aroused  ;  but  the  fact  must  not  be  disregarded  that  Persian 
art  influenced  Byzantine  art  as  much  as  Byzantine  art  in- 
fluenced Italian. 

In  early  Persian  design  we  see  much  that  is  derived  from 
ancient  Assyria  and  Babylon,  the  motifs  of  which  were  frequently 
the  tree  of  life  with  divinities,  priests  and  worshippers  on 
either  side,  the  whole  being  sometimes  enclosed  in  circles  ;  this 
symbolism  appealed  to  the  Byzantines  and  was  directly  adopted. 

In  the  later  Persian,  animals  take  the  place  of  the  human 
figures,  sometimes  back  to  back,  divided  by  a  stem  or  floral  orna- 
ment  reminiscent   simply  of  the  sacred 
tree. 

The  animals   are   usually   lions, 
cheetahs   or   griffins,    all    ornamental 
abstractions  and  parrots  and  other 
birds  of   high  plumage  were  conven- 


u 

U 

U 

« 

i 

» 

SB 

S 

^ 

li) 

n 

XH-iAn  0'"CcnTUMr 


92 


The  Decorative  Periods 


tionally  treated.     The   Saracens   took   these   motifs  and  inter- 
polated Arabic  inscriptions. 

In  the  Fourteenth  Century  these  Persian  motifs  were  ap- 
plied in  set  rows  across  a  surface,  following  the  methods  of  the 
Greek  designers. 

Much  that  we  see  termed  Sicilian  is   full   of  the   Persian 
cheetahs  and   Indian  parrots  and  antelopes, 
elephants,  gazelles  and  African  flora,  due 
to  the  Saracenic  dominion  during  the  Twelfth 
Century. 

Subsequent  to  the  Twelfth  Century  the 
Greek  and  the  Christian  elements  of  orna- 
mentation became  much  used,  for  about 
this  time  the  spirit  of  the  Crusaders  per- 
vaded the  arts,  and  Christian  emblems 
were  generally  adopted — fabulous  animals, 
birds,  heraldic  forms,  sunbursts,  Christian  em- 
blems, angels  with  swinging  censers,  cloud 
forms  and  emblematic  plants.  By  the  end  of  the  Fourteenth 
Century  designs  became  more  floriated ;  vase  forms  and  the 
pomegranate  were  used,  and  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  we  find 
also  the  pineapple  adapted  to  decorative  uses. 

This  fruit  had  just  been  discovered  in  the  West  Indies  and 
was  a  nature  form  new  to  the  artists  of  the  East. 

It  is  all  history.  Follow  the  geographical  history  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  the  history  of  civilization  is  the  history  of  art. 


SICILIAN 
THIRTEENTH    CENTURY 


^ 

ffCM 

i 

^>;.^ 

^^M 

3 

f'^a^ 

1 

^^0f^li^ 

^ 

TROPHIES,  FRENCH  RENAISSANCE 


SYMBOLISM  IN  DECORATION 


D' 


jEcoRATiVEart,  to  be  lasting,  must 
convey  a  meaning.      The   un- 
educated  mind  perceives   little  in 
decoration  beyond  the  pictorial,  but 
the  man  who  knows  can  obtain  much 
satisfaction  from   his  reading  of  a 
properly  executed  decorative  work. 
One,  in  viewing  a  structure,  may 
see  nothing  but  a  decorative  result 
that  is  rather  pleasing.     The  student, 
on  the  other  hand,  can  fix,  in  the  use 
of  the  symbolism  employed,  the  ob- 
ject of  the  structure  or  the  use  to 
which  it  is  applied. 
/The  use  of  the  circle,  the  ellipse,  and  their  subdivisions 
in  tracery  all  indicate  the  Gothic  or  re- 
ligious character.  ^ 

The   LAUREL  and 
their  introduction  to 
their  symbolic  influ- 
ence.    They  were 
conspicuous  in  the 
tree  worship  of  the 
ancient    Greeks. 
The  laurel  was  sacred 
to  Apollo  ;  it  was  the  ^^^j>^ 


THE  GROTE.S<JlE  IN 
ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE 


\ 


94 


The  Decorative  Periods 


symbol  of  atonement ;  conquering  heroes  were  crowned  with  it. 
The  olive  was  sacred  to  Athena ;  olive  branches  were  the  prizes 
of  victory  of  the  Olympian  games. 

The  LOTUS  and  the  papyrus  played  an  important  part  in  the 
social  life  of  the  Egyptians,  Hindoos  and  Assyrians.  Even  the 
paper  of  the  ancients  was  made  of  papyrus.  The  lotus  was  a 
symbol  of  the  recurring  fertilization  of  the  land  of  the  Nile,  and 
in  a  higher  sense  it  indicated  immortality.  The  palm  was  a 
symbol  of  victory. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how 
the  vessels  of  religious  rites  passed 
into  the  decoration  of  religious 
edifices.     In  the  antique  style  the 

ALTARS,  TRIPODS,  CANDELABRA, 
SACRIFICIAL  AXES  and  SPRINKLERS 

were  introduced  naturally. 

In  the  Gothic  Period  the  sym- 
bol of  the  CROSS,  the  marks  of 
PRIESTLY  dignity,  the  suggestion 
of  the  PASSION,  became  part  of  the 
decoration. 

It  was   the   custom   of  the 
Greeks  to  hang  upon  the  trunks  of 
trees  the  weapons  which  the  flying 
enemy   had   left   behind. 
These  tokens  of  victory  were 
called  TROPHIES. 

The   Romans   erected 
artificial  trophies  of  stone  or 
bronze,   and    since   that 
period  trophies  have  been  used 
for  innumerable  purposes ; 
the    grouping    of    warlike 
weapons  and  the  grouping 
of  tools  and  instruments,  to 
symbolize  some  special  idea.        ^^^  grotesque  in  Italian  renaissance 


4fe 

r 

» 

TOMB  OF  AN  AGONOTHETES,  GRE- 
CIAN OFFICER  WHO  PRESIDED 
OVER  THE  GREEK  SPORTS  AND 
GAMES.  THE  DESIGN  ILLUS- 
TRATES TROPHIES  OF  THE  SPORTS 


gp 
fefe 


I-SICILIAN  2-ROMAN 


3-CHINESE 


4-JAPANESE 


H 

1 

1 

s 

m 

i 

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B 

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i 

^xMY^ 

5-MEDI.EVAL 


6-MEDI/EVAL 


7-MEDl.EVAL 


8-MEDI.EVAL 


gM 

^H 

^^/^c^ 

^S 

lO-ARABIAN 


II-ARABIAN 


9-EGYPTIAN 


I2-ARABIAN 


13-ARABIAN 


I4-MEUI.i;VAL 


15-FIKTEENTH  CENTURY  FRENCH 


We  have  symbols  of  art,  music,  painting,  sculpture,  archi- 
tecture ;  symbols  of  science,  mathematics,  astronomy,  chemis- 
try ;  symbols  of  commerce  or  technical  science  and  trade  symbols. 
Singing,  for  example,  is  symbolized  by  a  lyre,  with  or  with- 
out sheets  of  music ;  music  by  violins,  flutes,  horns,  Pan's  pipes, 
etc.;  DANCING  by  the  tambourine,  castagnettes ;  acting  by 
masks;  painting  by  brush  and  palette  ;  sculpture  by  the  ham- 
mer, chisel  and  works  of  sculpture,  busts,  torsi ;  architecture 
by  square,  straight-edge  and  compasses,  usually  in  combination 
with  capitals;  the  railroad  and  steam  are  symbolized  by  a 
winged  wheel,  the  telegraph  by  coils  of  wire  which  radiate 
lightning  ;  trade  is  represented  by  casks  and  bales  of  goods  on 
which  the  caduceus  (a  staff  around  which  winged  serpents  are 
twining — the  attribute  of  Mercury)  is  resting ;  agriculture  has 
the  plough,  the  sickle,  the  scythe,  etc.  Where  the  trophy  or 
symbol  is  used  properly  one  may  trace  thereby  the  period  of  de- 
sign with  little  difficulty. 

Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  the  lion  was  regarded  as 


A  (JOTHIC  USE  OF  CIRCLES 


98 


The  Decorative  Periods 


w 

^ 

K 

m 

A  GOTHIC  USE  OF  CIRCLES 


the  guardian   of   springs  and  gates  and 

temples ;  but  in  Christian  art  it  is  often  the 

emblem  of  the  evil  principle  (the  enemy 

who  goeth  about  as  a  roaring  lion  seeking 

whom  he  may  devour). 

The  Crusades  of  the  Twelfth  Century 
introduced  the  lion  into  heraldry. 

The  GRIFFIN  is  the  union  of  the  lion's 
body  with  the  head  and  wings  of  the  eagle. 
The  grififin  is  a  symbol  of  wisdom  and 
watchfulness. 

The  EAGLE  has  been  used  in  decora- 
tive art  since  the  earliest  times.     Next  to 
the  lion  it  is  the  most  used  heraldic  creature, 
and  adopted  by  the  United  States,  Ger- 
many,  Austria,    Russia  and    France. 
The    DOLPHIN    of    ancient    times    en- 
joyed a  kind  of  veneration  which  pro- 
tected him  against  attack. 

The  use  of  the  mask  dates  back  to  the  harvest  games  of  the 
earliest  Greek  Period.  From  these  games  it  was  transferred  to 
the  ancient  theatre,  in  which  the  actors  all  appeared  masked. 
From  theatrical  the  mask  passed  to  artistic  uses,  and  was  util- 
ized in  Pompeiian  decorations.  It  was  naturally  adopted  in  the 
Renaissance  Period. 

Ribbons  have  no  significance.  They  are  used  as  labels  to 
bear  some  motto  or  as  purely  decorative  features.  In  the  antique 
form  they  often  terminated  in  an  acornlike  knob  ;  in  the  Middle 
Ages  they  were  used  curled  and  quaint ;  in  the  Renaissance  they 
developed  in  various  free  styles  often  divided  at  the  ends  like  a 
pennant ;  in  the  Louis  XVI  style  they  were  used  for  their  design 
features. 

The  use  of  the  circle  and  its  sub-divisions  in  design  all  indi- 
cate the  Gothic  character,  but  there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule, 
besides  the  Persian  and  Indian  types,  which  during  the  period  of 
Saracenic  conquests  show  the  influence  of  Gothic  art.     For  ex- 


The  Decorative  Periods 


99 


ample,  the  illustration  marked  No.   i  is  an 
example  of  Sicilian  design  (Saracenic)  taken 
from  a  cathedral  in  Monreale,  and  yet  it  is 
identical  with  the  Roman  design  marked  No. 
2.     The  reason  for  this  is  simply  that  the 
Sicilian   took   it   from    the  Byzantine,  and 
the    Byzantine   took   it    direct    from  the 
Roman.     Again,  illustrations  3  and  4  are 
respectively  Chinese  and  Japanese,  and  yet 
the  circle  is  conspicuous  in  both  cases. 
Numbers  5,  6,  7  and  8  are  purely  Mediaeval 
designs  ;  9,  10,  11,  12  and  13,  while  embody- 
ing the   circular  system,  employ  it  in  a 
different  method. 

By  studying  the  details  of  No.  9  one  will 
see  the  lotus  motifs  which  mark  it  as  Egyp- 
tian ;  by  studying  10,  1 1,  12  and  13,  the  Arab- 
Ian  principles  are  conspicuous. 

The  Gothic  circle  was  utilized  usually  in 
circumscribed  squares,  but  in  the  Sixteenth 
Century  the  design  as  shown  in  illustration  13 
was  treated  in  a  more  liberal  spirit.     Illus- 
tration 14,  for  instance,  shows  the  Medix-val 
circle   treatment   clearly    defined,    while 

in  15  we  find  the  circle  is  relegated  to  a  structural  background 
or  framework  upon  which  early  French  Renaissance  forms  of 
classic  design  are  built. 


■■V:>«*^'p^;<s 


^^FW^^^F^x^ 


ROMANESQUE— GOTHIC 

Romanesque— 750  A.  D.-iioo  A.  D.  (throughout  western  Europe). 
Gothic — iioo  A.  D.-1550  A.D.  (throughout  western  Europe). 

THE  Romanesque  was  a  style  which  grew  up  in  Northern  Italy 
and  is  the  link  between  the  classic  and  the  Gothic.     Indeed, 
it  is  called  by  some  authorities  "  Round  Headed  Gothic."     Its 

distinguishing  characteristic  is  its  severity.    In 

architecture  its  arches  were  generally  semi- 
circular.    The  system  of  ornament  much 
used  in  the  Romanesque  was  called  "  tooth 
ornament." 

The  moldings  were  of  an  undulating  for- 
mation, alternately  concave  and  convex;  the  Lozenge  molding 
was  also  much  in  use — a  style  of  molding  which  consisted  of  loz- 
enges placed  side  by  side. 


IN    THE  Romanesque  the  arch  was  semi-circular ;  Gothic,  also 
known  as  the  pointed  or  Christian  pointed,  has  the  pointed 
arch  noticeable  in  windows  and  doorways. 

The  term  Gothic  includes  that  form  of  architecture  and 
decoration  which  succeeded  the  Romanesque  '^'^^^w-  lasted  from 
750  to    IIOO  A.  D.      The    Middle   Ages  are  arbitrarily    fixed 

as  that  period  from  450  to 

1500,  and  these  dates  should 

be  remembered  inasmuch  as 

the  terms   Gothic,   Mediaeval 

and    Romanesque   are    fre^ 

quently  confused. 

The  Gothic  was  an  .out- 
growth of  the  Romanesque 


The  Decorative  Periods 


lOI 


FLEt'R-UK-LIS 


and  lasted   until  1550,  although  its  influences  have  never  been 
lost. 

In  the  twelfth  century  the  early  English  or  crude  Gothic 
was  culti\ated.  Of  this,  probably  the  best  ex- 
ample  is  the  Salisbury  Cathedral.  Then  fol- 
<^  lowed  the  Second  Period,  the  Decorated  or  Orna- 
mental English,  which  in  turn  gave  way  in  the 
fifteenth  and  si.xteenth  centuries  to  the  Elorid 
Perpendicular  or  Elamboyant  style,  or  Gothic  of  the  Deca- 
dence. 

These  are  the  terms  given  to  the  three  styles  sometimes 
called  Primary,  Secondary  and  Tertiary  Gothics. 

Gothic  decoration  was  the  art  expression  having  root  in  the 
spread  of  the  Christian  religion  in 
Europe.  At  first  crude  and  heavy, 
it  yielded  to  the  ascendancy  of  wealth 
and  became  highly  decorative ;  the  re- 
turning Crusaders  brought  Byzantine 
influences  and  we  find  the  rough  stur- 
diness  of  the  early  Gothic  giving  way 
to  the  style  known  as  Decorative 
Gothic  or  Ornamental  English.  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages  was 
so  dominated  by  religious  fervor  that  it  was  natural  to  expect 
religious  symbolism  in  Gothic  style  and  with  this  imjirint  the 
style  was  soon  accepted  for  all  church  work. 


1  lliL  R-I)E-L1S   1-LORY 


sr  '■7.1.5  :i^:'.2iL'> ,  6.'- 


&ito 


The  Decorative  Periods 


103 


The  use  of  curves  and  arches  and  combinations  of  curves 
formin<j  crosses  arose  from  the  s}niboHsm  of 
Three  in  One — the  three  circles  combined — the 
three  sides  of  a  triangle.  These  forms  are 
largely  made  up  of  part  of  the  circle  which  alone 
expresses  eternity.  We  note  three  faces  in  tri- 
ani;ular  outline.  The  rites  of  baptism  are  also 
represented  by  three  fishes  followed  by  the  cir- 
cular form.  Every  trefoil  symbolizes  the  Trinity.  Every  qua- 
trefoil  symbolizes  the  four  evangelists ;  every  cross  the  Crucifix- 
ion, and  we  find  in  the  fabrics  and  the  embroideries,  moreover, 
representations  of  the  chalice,  the  crown,  thorns,  the  hammer, 
the  nails,  the  flagellum  and  other  symbols  of  our  Lord's  Passion; 
besides  these  we  note  the  introduction  of 
purely  architectural  forms,  the  church  spire  be- 
ing conspicuous. 

The  style  was  always  subordinated  to  the 
purpose.      The    form   of   decoration,  if    orna- 
mented, follows  the  fioraof  the  country;  flut- 
ings   in   which   foliage   ornament    was  intro- 
duced were   much  used ;  chimerical  animals 
were  also  introduced,  but  in   the  fourteenth 
century  the  decoration  was  so  extravagant  that 
finally  it  so  lost  its  purity  of  line  that  it  became 
to  a  great  degree  meaningless. 
Symbolism  was  the  inspiring  motif.     The  virtues  and  vices 
were    represented    under    the    forms   of    persons   or   fantastic 
animals. 

The  ornaments  most  frequently  used  in  this  third  stage  were 
fleur-de-lis  or  other  flowers  or  foliage.     The  weavings  and  em- 


104 


The  Decorative  Periods 


broideries  were  usually  made  especially  in  monastries  or  church 
edifices  and  naturally  followed  church  influences  ;  but  this  influ- 
ence was  not  invariably  followed.  Floors  and  plant  life  were 
sometimes  idealized  and  figural  pieces  introduced,  for  we  must 
not  forget  the  influence  exercised  by  Byzantine  and  Arabian  art ; 
thus,  while  looking  for  the  symbolism  of  Gothic  work,  one  may 
find  a  great  deal  that  is  reminiscent,  and  I  reiterate :  While  sym- 
bolism was  almost  invariably  introduced,  it  was  not  introduced  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  other  forms  of  design. 


^  55  "^j^  ^  ^  ^ 'K' 


GOTHIC  FORMS  FROM  WHICH   THE  TREFOIL  AND     QUATREFOIL     DETAILS 
WERE  TAKEN,  OBTAINED  BY  THE  USE  OF  CIRCLES 


GOTHIC 


ROMANESQUE 


The  Decorative  Periods 


107 


The  Gothic  is  not  very  well  understood . 

There  are  those  who  associate  the  term 

with  crimson  cushions  and  church  pews, 

stiff  backed  and  uncomfortable  ;  they 

can   see   nothing   beyond    the   strictly 

ecclesiastical ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 

churchly  phase  of  the  Gothic  movement 

was  the  outgrowth  of  many  years. 

Indeed,  the  word  Gothic  was  applied 

as  a  term  of  reproach  indicating  what,  in 

the  Classic  Revival  or   Renaissance 

Period,  was  regarded  as  the  style  of  the 

^  ^^^  barbarians  of  the  Middle  Ages.     We  doubt 

troduction  of  the  Gothic;  it  grew,  not 

by  their  aid,  but  in  spite  of  them.    At  the 

outstart  the  Gothic  furniture  and  fitments 

were  as  severely  simple  as  the  modern 

Arts  and  Crafts  and  Mission  styles. 

But  one  finds  the  spirit  of  conquest, 
which  brought  all  sorts  of  art  treasures  into  this  Gothic  Period, 
e.xemplified  in  a  later  period,  when  the  Crusaders  brought  back 
the  wealth  of  the  East  to  add  to 
the  furnishings  of  their  own  lands. 

Flowers,  trees  and  leaves  were 
generally   used   as   decorative 
motifs,  and  if  one   studies  Dol- 
metsch's  Ornamental  Treasures 
one  will  find  innumerable  examples 
in  no  way  suggesting  the  ecclesi- 
astical, but  gorgeous  in  gold  and 
blues  and  reds,  rich  in  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Roman,  Byzantine 
and  Saracenic. 

As  the  church  developed  the 
use  of  Christian  symbolism,  so 
the  home  in  time  developed  the  use        e/mvly  FRtNcn    -othic 


io8 


The  Decorative  Periods 


SPANISH   GOTHIC 

the  East,  the  Western  Christians 
ings  which   had  ren- 
dered them  recog- 
nizable during  the 
combat;  and  that  is 
how,  according  to 
Viollet-le-Duc,  arm- 
orial bearings  became 
hereditary. 

In  the  early  part 
of  the  Fifteenth 
Century,  and  during 
the  whole  of  the 
century,  the  furniture 
of  Europe  generally 
was  designed  more 
or  less  on  Gothic 
lines.     Gradually  the 
new  forms  that  were 
now  rapidly  develop- 
ing in  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Renais- 


of  armorial  designs, 
for  in  the  Elev- 
enth  Century 
jousts  or  tourna- 
ments were  much 
in  vogue,  and  the 
knights  who  com- 
peted adopted 
colors  or  devices 
whereby  they 
would  become 
identified  through 
their  armor.  When 
they  returned 
from  the  wars  in 
preserved  the  armorial  bear- 


FRENCH    GOTHIC 


The  Decorative  Periods 


109 


sance  began  to  assert  themselves,  and  we  find  in  many  articles 
a  mixture  of  style ;  for  instance,  the  upper  panel  would  be  in 
the  Medixval,  and  the  lower  one  in  the  Renaissance  style; 
or  the  general  construction  would  be  Gothic,  and  the  details 
and  decoration  Renaissance.  Styles  of  design  in  furniture 
overlapped  each  other  so  much,  especially  in  the  Renaissance 
period,  that  it  becomes  somewhat  difficult  to  assign  any  correct 
date  to  many  pieces  of  important  work. 


Morris  was  full  of  the  Mediaval,  and  throughout  his  life 
work  and  that  of  Burne-Jones — 
and  Rosetti,  under  whom  both 
subsequently   studied — showed 
the  influences  of  Mediaval 
naturalness  of  form  and  beauty 
of  coloring. 

Morris  studied  originally 
for  the  church,  and  he  and 
Burne-Jones  were  to  take  holy 
orders,  but  in  following  this 
idea  they  became  so  interested 


The  Decorative  Periods 


III 


in  the  Medixval  decorative  work  that  they  soon  abandoned  the 
church  for  architecture.  Their  work  was  never  pure  Gothic, 
but  it  was  a  pleasing  compromise. 

The  Gothic  type  that  developed  along  the  lines  adopted  for 
church  work  is  too  austere  fc:  home  uses ;  the  pointed  arches, 
the  narrow  and  high  windows,  in  fact  the  general  effect  of 
height  in  construction,  the  spires  capped  with  finials,  the  carved 
fioral  work,  and  the  ecclesiastical  spirit  and  design  details 
are   too   closely   associated  with  religion  to  be  acceptable  for 


/^ 

^^ 

m 

^^P 

GOTHIC    WITH    MKDI.KVAL    INFLUENCE 


114 


The  Decorative  Periods 


secular  uses.  In  the  beginning,  however,  after  the  fall  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire,  and  during  the  period  when  the  arts  languished 
and  vandalism  and  destruction  ran  riot,  there  was  little  call  for 
decorative  work,  and  labor  was  confined  to  the  simply  con- 
structural  ;  it  was  at  this  time  that  the  character  of  the  furniture 
and  furnishings  was  of  that  type  which  we  now  recognize  as  the 
Arts  and  Crafts  or  Mission. 


1^ 

^it2i^==:^Pf^^ 

f^§ 

^ — • — "n^^^^ 

sfe^y 

r^fiat 

itfS/ 

F^ 

■^=^^ — JB — 

m 

~* — *    ""'  »   m^ 

9k  ^u 

►-— ^J|P§L^K^HIt^-i 

r&^ 

b^ 

^ 

Ml 

r^Afc.., 

LATE   FRENCH   GOTHIC 


SHIELD,  CARTOUCHE  AND  STRAP  IN 
DECORATION 

THE  history  of  decoration  is  a  history  simply  of  development. 
In  the  life  of  all  things  there  are  turning  points  or  crises 
which  mark  with  some  degree  of  distinctiveness  the  period  of 
development.     It  is  the  same  in  the  life  of 

r^\=»/A5  (;>v  decoration  as  in  the  life  of  a  nation  or  an 

^''^^  individual.     This  chapter  has  to  do  with 

,    /■       the  turning  points  in  period  decoration,  the 
crisis  eras  that  mark  distinct  alteration  of 
conditions. 

The  Classic  Greek  Period  developed 
into  the  Roman  ;  it  continued  through  the 
Byzantine;  it  retrograded  in  the  Middle 
Ages  and  awakened  under  the  Renaissance 
following  the  IMedixval  Period.  India, 
Persia  and  Arabia  influenced  the  early 
decorative  arts  in  a  marked  degree,  extend- 
ing from  the  Fourth  to  the  Si.xteenth  Cen- 
tury. As  early  as  the  Fifth  Century  the 
beautiful  fabrics  of  Persia  and  India  were 
carried  to  Byzantium.  In  the  Eighth  Cen- 
tury the  Arabians  assimilated  the  arts  of  Persia,  India,  Egypt 
and  Spain,  and  brought  the  art  of  weaving  to  its  culmination 
during  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries.  The  Eastern 
weavers  carried  their  art  and  traditions  with  them  to  various 
parts  of  Europe,  and  we  find  even  in  Italy  during  the  whole  of 
the  Renaissance  period,  with  the  characteristic  scroll  forms  and 
the  Acanthus  foliation  of  its  architecture,  that  textiles  followed 
very  often  the  Arabian,  Persian  and  Indian  ornament. 

The  Crusades,  which  extended  from  1096  to  1270,  had  also 


the  effect  of  absorbing  much  of  the  Byzantine  and  Saracenic  art. 
They  contributed,  moreover,  to  the  growth  of  the  great  Italian 
seaports  by  establishing  closer  commercial  relations  between 
Europe  and  the  East.  The  Crusades  enriched  the  church. 
They  brought  back  to  the  West  the  products  of  the  Orient. 
Heraldry  developed.  In  Asia  and  Africa  they  acquired  new 
tastes. 

At  Alexandria  and  Antioch  many  fine  green  and  gold  silk 
fabrics,  with  brown  outlines,  were  produced  from  the  Sixth  to 
the  Tenth  Century  ;  and  when  the  Crusades  began  to  influence 
the  art,  and  in  1098  Antioch  was  taken,  the  spoils  were  distrib- 
uted throughout  all  Europe.  It  was  the  same  in  1204,  when 
Constantinople  was  taken  by  the  Count  of  Flanders  and  the 
Venetian  Doge  Dandola ;  the  spoils  were  scattered  throughout 
the  western  country  and  taken  up  and  absorbed.  It  was  un- 
doubtedly under  the  influence  of  the  Crusades  that  the  Sicilian 
weavers  of  the  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Centuries  produced 
many  beautiful  fabrics  enriched  with  winged  lions,  foliated  crosses 
and  crowns,  rayed  stars,  harts  and  birds  with  armorial  bearings. 
Early  in  the  Fourteenth  Century  this  character  of  design  was 
introduced  into  Italy,  and  at  Lucca  many  beautiful  fabrics  were 
produced  having  the  same  technique  and  style  as  the  Sicilian 
fabrics. 

The  use  of  heraldic  devices,  particularly  shields,  became 
conspicuous   decorative   details  during   the   latter  part  of   the 


Fifteenth  Century  and  during  the  Sixteenth  Century.  These 
devices  sprung  from  the  Eleventh  Century  Crusaders,  whose 
shields  and  arms  identified  the  bearer  by  the  legend  or  device 
adopted.  The  shape  of  the  shield  varied  and  included  many 
exceedingly  decorative  forms,  some  of  them  being  never  in  actual 
use,  but  were  simply  ornamental  inventions  which  during  the 
Sixteenth  Century  were  incorporated  into  the  carvings  of  the 
furniture  and  became  conspicuous  decorative  details. 

The  shield  No.  i  (see  illustrations)  was  in  use  in  the  Twelfth, 
Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Centuries.  It  is  made  from  one-half 
to  one-third  the  height  of  a  man.  The  Fourteenth  Century 
shield,  straight  at  the  top  and  rounded  at  the  bottom,  was  used, 
but  that  shape  and  figures  4,  5  and  6  were  probably  never  borne, 
but  were  merely  heraldic.  At  the  end  of  the  Fourteenth  Cen- 
tury figures  7  and  10  were  introduced.     Figures  19  to  26  were 


The  Decorative  Periods 


119 


shields  of  the  Renaissance  Period,  used  largely  in  decoration. 
Figures  11  and  12  were  common  in  Italy  at  that  time.  Figure 
16  is  used  for  the  arms  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  and  France. 
Figure  18,  the  lozenge-shape  shield,  has  been  common  in  France 
since  the  Thirteenth  Century.    ^ 

Out  of  the  heraldic  device  which  began  in  its  simplicity  in 
1 100  and  developed  profuse  and  highly  ornamental  decorative 
details,  arose  a  general  decorative  treatment  which  is  well  illus- 
trated in  the  Renaissance  panel  here  shown.  We  have  in  this 
panel  the  cartouche,  the  scroll  and  strap  work  which  in  combina- 
tion constituted  the  characteristic  features  of  much  of  the  work 
of  the  late  Renaissance. 

The  cartouche  itself  is  an  ornament  with  an  empty  space  in 
its  centre  to  receive  an  inscription,  cipher  or  emblem ;  but  in 
this  period  it  was  frequently  treated  in  heraldic  form.  Strap 
work  consisted  of  bands  interlaced  and  intertwined.  It  goes 
back  to  the  Eleventh  Century,  but  came  into  common  use  with 
the  cartouche  and  scroll  near  the  end  of  the  Renaissance 
Period,  and  was  much  in  favor  with  the  Flemish,  Germans  and 
English. 


EU2A5CTHAn 


RENAISSANCE  CHARACTERISTICS,  SHOWING  THE  PERSIAN  AND 
SARACENIC  INFLUENCE 


ITALIAN  RENAISSANCE 


THE  RENAISSANCE  CHARACTERISTICS 


U' 


NTiL  the  Student  has  fully  grasped 
the  significance  of  classic  orna- 
ment he  will  be  always  confused  in 
studying  the  Renaissance.  The  Re- 
naissance period  was  the  revival  period 
in  Italy,  1400;  in  France,  1500;  in 
England,  1500  ;  in  Flanders,  1507  ;  in 
Germany,  1550.  The  lingering  Gothic 
and  Mediaeval  materially  affected  and 
influenced  all  effort  at  Revival. 

Roman  motifs  were  seldom  adopt- 
ed in  their  purity,  or  in  a  manner 
consistent  with  their  symbolic  sig- 
nificance, but  were  regarded  princi- 
pally for  their  pictorial  value,  and  sacred  and  secular  motifs  were 
combined  indiscriminately  and  frequently  merged  upon  a  Me- 
dixval  and  Gothic  background  ;  this  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind. 
The  Renaissance  followed  the  Romanesque  and  Gothic  periods, 
and  bore  the  imprint  of  the  years  of  Mediaval  influence. 

The  Classic  period  was  full  of  floral  and  animal  forms — fruit 
tied  in  bunches  with  leaves  and  flowers,  festoons  with  flowing 
ribbons,  rosettes,  candelabras,  skulls  of  sacrificial  animals,  tri- 
pods, sacred  instruments,  heroic  and  grotesque  masks.  The 
Renaissance  elaborated  the  festoons  and  floral  treatments,  elimi- 
nated to  a  great  degree  the  masks  and  introduced  cupids  and 


GERMAN    KKNAISSANCE 


ROMANESQUE 


angel  faces.  The  acanthus  was  the  most  popular  of  all  the  orna- 
mental plant  designs  ;  introduced  by  the  Greeks,  it  recurs  again 
and  again  in  all  subsequent  periods.  Sometimes  it  has  broad, 
blunt  leaves,  sometimes  pointed. 

Centaurs  showing  the  fore  part  of  a  man  and  the  hind  part 
of  a  horse  were  much  in  evidence.  In  the  Renaissance  the  cen- 
taur as  well  as  other  human  and  animal  figures  was  introduced 
as  part  of  an  elaborate  system  of  scrolls  and  acanthus  ornamen- 
tation. The  Romans  often  used  half  figures  resting  upon  an 
inverted  foliage  cup. 

The  Renaissance  period  took  up  this  motif,  utilizing  usually 
the  female  form,  arising  from  an  extravagant  system  of  scroll 
ornamentation.  Heads  and  masks  in  grotesquerie  were  much 
affected  in  classic  Rome,  especially  the  Medusa  head.  But  only 
in  the  German  Renaissance  has  much  of  this  been  utilized. 
Classic  ornament  included  the  laurel,  bay,  and  olive  vines,  the 
lotus  leaf,  palm,  corn,  hop,  grain,  oak  leaves,  rhododendron,  wild 
rose,  alpine  rose,  bell  blossom,  white  lily, 
oak  leaf,  maple  leaf,  the  tulip,  the  lion, 
grififin,  goat  head,  panther  head,  ram,  horse, 
boar  and  eagle.  The  dolphin  enjoyed  a 
kind  of  veneration.  The  palm  signified 
peace  and  victory.  The  shell,  serpent  and 
mask  were  conspicuous,  but  they  all  had 
their  sacred  significance.  The  anthe- 
mion,  sometimes  called  the  honeysuckle 


ornament,  closely  connected  with  the  conventionalized  Egyptian 
lotus,  and  the  Assyrian  palmette  takes  the  form  of  radiating 
clusters  and  leaves.  The  eagle  was  used  as  a  symbol  of  strength, 
but  in  the  Renaissance  we  frequently  find  simply  the  eagle  wings 
used  decoratively. 

The  revival  period  was  the  period  of  adoption  ;  seldom  was 
it  pure;  invariably  it  was  affected  by  temperament.  In  Italy  it 
was  naturally  most  consistent.  In  Germany  it  was  often  gro- 
tesque, bizarre,  Mediaeval.  In  France  the  Italian  spirit  prevailed. 
In  all  cases  it  was  exaggerated. 

The  Renaissance  appeared  in  Germany  much  later  than  in 
France,  where  the  union  of  Italian  forms  with  French  individu- 
ality soon  developed  a  definite  and  independent  French  Renais- 
sance. In  Germany  the  situation  was  highly  unfavorable  to  the 
new  style,  and  found  little  favor  with  the  architects,  who  were 
wrapped  up  in  Gothic  mannerisms  and 
openly  opposed  its  introduction.  The 
painters,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  Al- 
brecht  Diirer,  showed  themselves  more 
receptive,  and  Diirer  deserved  the  credit 
for  the  introduction,  about  1550,  of  the 
Renaissance  into  Germany.  He  was  the 
inspiration  and  the  leader. 

Like  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  Diirer  was 
entitled  by  his  social  and  intellectual  quali- 
ties no  less  than  by  his  artistic  genius  to 


VK'Kfk^K^K^K'KfK'I.-'K'k^I.'K''I 


TTTTJ, 


RENAISSANCE 


GERMAN    RENAISSANCE 


a  place  in  the  most  exclusive  circles,  and  in  all  that  he  did  the 
social  and  heraldic  spirit  is  conspicuous. 

In  his  designs  a  struggle  between  two  duties  can  easily  be 
seen.  He  could  not  entirely  give  up  Gothic  and  had  not  the 
fine  constructive  understanding  of  the  new  forms  possessed  by  the 
Italian  painters  from  whom  he  had  learned.  Hans  Borkmair  was 
the  first  fully-informed  and  unmistakable  propagator  of  the  pure 
Renaissance  style.  Hans  Holbein  was  a  genuine  Renaissance 
artist. 

The  fact  that  painters  first  mastered  the  Renaissance  forms 
and  introduced  them  into  Germany,  and  thus  by  a  roundabout 


ITALIAN   REVAISSANCE 


RENAISSANCE 


way  led  architecture  and  decoration  to  accept  Renaissance 
motifs,  gave  to  German  Renaissance  its  bizarre  character. 
Only  at  the  close  of  the  Renaissance  century  and  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  when  regular  personal  inter- 
course began  between  German  masters  in  Italy  and  Italian 
masters  in  Germany,  and  the  principal  works  on  Italian  architec- 
ture became  generally  known  in  Germany,  did 
the  Germans  become  conscious  of  what  they 
had  neglected. 

The  trophy  was  a  decoration  consisting  of 
a  group  of  arms  or  implements  of  the  sports  or 
arts,  bound  together  with   ribbons  and  hung 
^''^l^^T/Sr^       upon  the  wall.     Mural  surfaces  are  frequently 
decorated  with  painted  or  sculptured  trophies. 
The  term  is  also  applied  to  a  group  of  symbols 
significant  of  music.     Thus,  we  have  musical 
trophies.     In  the  French  periods  ribbons,  flow- 
ers and  baskets  were  bunched  together  to  sug- 
gest joy ;  tambourines  and  masks  were  grouped 
(^2^:^^,%.i:=^3^      ^^  dances.     In  the  Medixval  days  implements 
of  war  were  clustered,  sometimes  with  a  shield 
^>^  1        for  a  background. 


^. 


M 


^•Nf 


IN  CLOSING  the  chapter  we  would  dwell  upon 
the  Renaissance  spirit  aroused  during  the 
Eighteenth  Century  by  the  Restoration  work 
at  the  long-buried  cities  of  Herculaneum  and 
Pompeii.  It  was  only  natural  that  the  French 
and  English  artists  David  and  the  brothers 
Adam,  with  many  others  of  less  repute,  should 


ROMAN 


ROMAN 


be  aflfected  by  the  discoveries  at  these  long-buried  Roman  cities, 
and  we  find,  in  what  we  regard  as  the  French  Transition  and 
Empire  periods,  characteristics  naturally  identical  with  those  of 
the  Sixteenth  Century  Renaissance.  The  work  at  Hcrculaneum 
and  Pompeii  rearoused  enthusiasm  for  Roman  art,  and  the 
Eighteenth  Century  decorators  were  quick  to  adopt  Roman 
motifs,  not  in  the  Sixteenth  Century  spirit,  however,  but  in  a 
manner  acceptable  to  a  public  saturated  with  the  Louis  XVI 
period  of  design.  Thus,  we  find  in  the  French  periods  of  1790, 
and  in  the  contemporary  English  periods, 
the  Renaissance  character  with  the  gro- 
tesque, the  chimerical  and  the  legendary 
eliminated  and  the  whole  subjugated  to  a 
simpler  decorative  feeling,  dainty  in  line, 
delicate  in  treatment,  excepting  when  ap- 
plied to  the  Empire  school,  and  even  then 
its  severity  was  simple  and  freed  of  its  bur- 
dens of  elaborateness. 

It  is  important  to  realize  that  Renais- 
sance influences,  while  directly  Italian, 
became  superimposed  upon  a  mind  not  only 
moulded  to  the  traditional  Gothic,  but  in- 
fluenced by  the  Saracenic,  the  Persian  and 
the  Indian,  for  it  must  be  recalled  that 
Venetian  and  Sicilian,  in  fact,  all  Italian 
craftsmanship,  had  been  moulded  to  the 
sentiment  of  Persia  and  India,  with  which 
Far  Eastern  countries  lower  Italy  was  in 
constant  intercourse.  The  Saracens  brought 


RENAISSANCE 


128 


The  Decorative  Periods 


also  Byzantine  influences  to  Italy,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Renais- 
sance movement  we  have  this  Eastern  feeling  strong  in  Italy. 

The  English  Renaissance,  strictly  speaking,  was  the  Renais- 
sance of  John  of  Padua  (1500),  who,  under  the  patronage  of 
Henry  VIII,  practised  the  Renaissance  in  England.  But  the 
Renaissance  characteristics  which  have  lasted  are  the  work  of 
men  like  Grinling  Gibbons  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  who, 
nearly  two  hundred  years  afterwards,  introduced  that  form  of 
classicism  which  is  largely  Renaissance,  but  termed  Early 
Georgian  to  distinguish  it  from  the  more  simple  renderings  of 
the  brothers  Adam  in  the  Late  Georgian. 


ITALIAN,    FOURTEENTH    CENTURY 


THE  RENAISSANCE  FEELING,   ITALIAN  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY, 
WITH  ORIENTAL  INFLUENCE 


RENAISSANCE 

1 400- 1 643 

GOTHIC  ornament  became  at  the  time  of  the 
ItaHan    Reformation  profuse,  and  losing 
thus  much  of  the  religious  signficance  which  it 
possessed  in  its  inception,  it  descended  to  what 
is  termed  the  Gothic  of  'he  Decadence. 

At  that  time  much  of  the  symbolism  of  the 
church  became  unpopular  and  the  study  of  clas- 
sic ornament  was  taken  up. 

Fillippi  Brunelleschi,  born  in  Florence,  1377, 
died  1466,  was  an  architect  and  studied  in  Rome 
the  relics  of  Roman  art  and  returned  to  Flor- 
ence in  1407.     It  is  generally  conceded  that  to 
his  study  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  may  be  at- 
tributed the  revival  or  Renaissance  of  classic  art 
that  had  its  birth  in  Florence  and  spread  all 
over  the  Western  World.     While  Brunelleschi 
devoted  his  art  to  architectural  details,  Ambrogio 
Borgognone,  a  contemporary  artist,  devoted 
himself  to  interior  decoration. 

The  Renaissance  means  simply  revival,  and 
it  was  accepted  very  largely  by  even  the  church 
builders  of  England  and  Germany  on  account  of 


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The  Decorative  Periods 


135 


their  opposition  to  Catholicism  and  all  that  pertained  thereto  or 
was  associated  with  Gothic ;  it  was  accepted  by  France  and 
Italy  because  of  its  innate  beauties.* 

The  Renaissance  appeared  in  Italy  at  the  beginning  of  the  fif- 
teenth century.  The  acanthus  leaf,  the  cornucojMa,  vases,  figures 
of  women  from  the  hips  up,  the  bottom  portion  fading  into  ara- 
besque curves  and  vines  and  leaf  details,  were  distinguishing  char- 
acteristics. It  was  a  free  adaptation  of  the  Roman,  Pompciian  and 
Grecian  antl  combined  garlands  and  birds,  and  in  many  cases  weird 
animal  figures,  which  can  also  be  traced  back  to  the  Roman. 

It  was  a  composite  style.    The  Italian  form  was  poetic  and  full 
of  the  daintiest  coloring  ; 
the  treatment  was  totally 
tlissimilar  to  that  of  the 
(lermans  who  followed  the 
Renaissance  in  1550. 

In  brief,  the  Italian, 
French,  German, 
Spanish,  English  and 
F"lemish  Renais- 
sance differed  ac- 
cording to  their 
national  tempera- 
ment.    They  all  drew 
their  inspirations 
from  the  same  source, 
but  while  the  French 
adhered  to  things 
essentially  beautiful, 
in  classic  motifs,  the 
Italians  and  Germans 
utilized   the  gro- 
tesque and  fantastic 
motifs—  the  Italians, 
aesthetically ;  the  Ger- 


ITALI.AN    CHAn< 


•  Introduced  into  England  by  John  of  Fadua.  architect  to  Henry  VIII. 
Introduced  into  France  bv  Franci.s  I. 


u 


If 


SHOWING  PERSIAN  AND  CHRISTIAN   INFLUENCE  IN  LATE 
FIFTEENTH  CENTURV    DESIGN 


EARLY   DUTCH 


t..\Kl.\     UL   IC  II 


CRUDE    DUTCH    FRAMH    WITH    DUTCH    RENAISSANXE    KAHRIC 


^^, 


FRANCIS  I,  SHOWING  TRACES  OF  GOTHIC,   1515-1549 

EARLY    FRENCH    RENAISSANCE 


HINRI    II,    Ii;4'>->;>9 

EARLY    FRENCH    RENAISSANCE 


148 


The  Decorative  Periods 


mans,  grotesquely.  My  illustrations  give  one  an  idea  of  the  fund 
of  material  in  hand  which  covered,  in  fact,  all  that  had  lived  and 
descended  from  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

The  French  Renaissance  was  less  mythological,  less  broadly 
whimsical ;  it  was  dainty ;  it  clung  more  closely  to  the  floral  and 
conventional  forms.  In  Italian  Renaissance  one  sees  the  same 
characteristics,  but  in  addition,  dragons  with  men's  heads  and 
singular  plant  structures  with  women's  bodies.  German  Renais- 
sance was  more  sturdy,  although  no  less  extravagant. 

The  French  Renaissance  extended  from  1502  to   1643  i  we 
frequently   hear  of   Decorative  Peri- 
ods such  as  the  Henry  II,  Henry  IV, 
the  Louis  XIII,  but  they  were  all  of 
the  Renaissance. 

Catherine  de  Medici,  wife  of 
Henry  II,  and  granddaughter   of 
Lorenzo  the   Magnificent,    and 
Marie   de   Medici,   who   married 
Henry  IV  of  France,  left  indelible 
impressions  on  the  art  of  France  by 
reason  of  their  liberal  en- 
couragement of  the  Re- 
naissance ;  but  if  one  con- 
sults the  Chronological 
Table  om  will  see  that  the 
combined  reign  of  Henry 
II,  Francis  II,  Charles 
IX,  Henry  HI  and  Henry 
IV  was  in  the  aggregate 
but  sixty  years,  so  it  is 
unreasonable  to  presume 
that  any  one  of  them  could 
have  established  a  distinc- 
tive design  epoch. 


SPANISH 

SPAIN,  or  the  Peninsula  Iberia,  as  it  was  known  to  the  ancients, 
had  no  decorative  art  worth  mentioning  until  the  time 
when  it  was  overrun  by  the  Moors,  710-713,  when  the  conquer- 
ors introduced  the  Moorish  style.  In  Spain  this,  under  the  name 
of  Morosc[ue  or  Hispano-Moresque,  reached  its  highest  develop- 
ment, in  the  Alhambra.  The  Moors  were  not  entirely  driven 
out  of  the  Southern  provinces  until  1610,  but  in  the  nine  hun- 
dred years  intervening  the  Moresque  style  flourished  sporadically 
throughout  many  portions  of  Spain.  During  the  Romanesque 
Period  a  large  part  of  the  country  was  under  Moorish  dominion, 
but  with  the  capture  of  Toledo,  1062,  began  the  emancipation 
from  Moslem  rule,  and  in  the  Northern  provinces  art  was  influ- 
enced by  the  Romanesque,  following  the  French  models  closely. 
This  style  continued  until  the  close  of  the  campaigns  against  the 
Moors,  1217-1252,  when  the  ecclesiastical  spirit  became  more 
prominent  and  the  Gothic  in  Spain  began.  In  this,  also,  French 
models  were  followed,  but  the  decoration  was  more  fanciful  and 
arbitrary.  This  flamboyant  Gothic  sufficed  for  a  while  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  lu.xuriant  period  which  followed  the  e.\- 
pulsion  of  the  Moors,  but  it  was  inevitable  that  the  Renaissance 
should  in  time  make  its  influence  felt  in  Spain.  Carlos  I,  who, 
on  the  death  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  became  king,  had  been 
born  and  educated  in  the  Netherlands,  of  which  he  was  ruler, 
and  upon  taking  the  Crown  of  Spain  all  his  friends  and  his 
advisers  were  Flemish  and  all  public  offices  were  filled  by  Flem- 
ings. It  was  thus  largely  through  the  employment  of  P'lcmish 
artists  that  the  Renaissance  was  introduced.  This  new  style, 
termed  the  Plateresque,  was  a  minutely  detailed  and  sumptuous 
mingling  of  Gothic  with  delicate  arabesques.  It  prevailed  from 
1500  to  1556.     The  successor  of  Carlos  I,  Phihp  II,  through  his 


150 


The  Decorative  Periods 


religious  intolerance,  excited  a  revolt  in  the  Netherlands  in  which 
the  Northern  states  were  lost  to  Spain.  Philip  was  thoroughly- 
Spanish,  and  the  period  from  1 556  to  1650  was  occupied  by  a  crude 
Graeco-Roman,  of  which  the  escuriel  is  an  example.  From  162 1 
to  1648  continual  wars  against  the  Netherlands  and  neighboring 
countries  brought  constant  reverses  to  Spain,  and  from  1650 
onward  Spanish  influence  declined  rapidly.  Spain's  supremacy 
in  trade  was  lost  to  the  Dutch,  the  remaining  states  of  the  Neth- 
erlands were  conquered,  and  during  this  period  of  decay  the  style 
known  as  Churrigueresque  was  in  vogue.  This  was  a  period  of 
wild  extravagance  and  debased  taste,  and  while  the  influence  of 
the  Netherlands  was  kept  alive  by  occasional  Spanish  victories 
in  Holland  and  the  consequent  shipment  of  booty  to  Spain,  the 
Spanish  people  had  lost  their  industrial  and  artistic  fervor. 


^cs^«3^.:^^E: 


EARLY    RENAISSANCE   TAPESTRV 


FLEMISH 

Flemish— S50  A.  D.-1750  A.  D.— iNDErEXDENT  countship  850-14047 

AISTKIAN     PROVINCE     I4O4    (1507KLEMISH     RENAISSANCE;     RUBENS 
1577-1640). 

THE  Flemish  were  residents  of  Flanders,  a  district  in  Europe 
now  taken  up  by  the  Netherlands,  Belgium  and  1^' ranee. 
Prior  to  the  influences  of  the  Renaissance,  the  Flemish  style  was 
exceedingly  simple.  The  type  of  decoration  known  under  the 
general  term  Dutch  or  Flemish,  may  be  best  understood  when 
one  considers  the  character  of  the  people  and  the  arts  as  prac- 
ticed by  their  painters,  notably  Rubens.  Where  the  French 
Renaissance  etherealized  and  the  Italian  idealized,  the  Flemish 
Renaissance  invariably  subjugated  the  design  to  the  exigencies 
of  construction.  Their  work,  brought  over  to  England  in  the 
time  of  William  and  Mary,  was  beautiful,  but  stolid.  We  see 
excellent  examples  in  the  early  furniture  that  Chippendale  took 
for  his  models.  They  were  not  people  to  follow  the  poetic  ten- 
dencies. They  took  their  art  with  serious  observance  and  worked 
it  out  in  a  dignified  form.  It  must  be  recalled  that  the  reputa- 
tion of  Flemish  decorative  work  has  rested  very  largely  on  the 
work  of  the  wood  carvers,  and  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  this  work 
must  have  been  of  excellent  character.  F^or  years  old  oak  was 
used,  but  later,  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  par- 
ticularly, other  woods  came  in,  and  inlays  of  broad  and  florid 
style  followed  to  vary  the  monotony  of  the  dull  old  oak. 

Throughout  its  varied  history  (and  it  is  beyond  the  province 
of  this  book  to  go  into  the  history  of  Flanders)  it  has  clung  to  its 
earlier  traditions,  and  although  a  great  deal  of  the  Flemish  work 
that  we  see  shows  traces  of  the  French,  Sj^anish  and  Austrian 
influences,  there  is  native  character  in  all  I-lcmish  work  which 
the  political  changes  of  the  country  never  seem  to  have  affected. 


l600.      FLEMISH  CARVED  WORK  AND  JACOBEAN  PANEL  WORK 


The  Decorative  Periods  i53 

Tae  intluences  exercised  by  Flemish  art  throughout  all 
Europe  were  paramount.  The  towns  of  Arras,  Valenciennes, 
Tournay,  Oudenarde,  Lille  and  Ikussels  were  the  centres  of 
world-famed  manufactures  of  tapestries.  Indeed,  Arras  became 
so  famous  that  everything  in  the  nature  of  a  curtain  was  called 
an  Arras. 

The  workers  in  tapestry  formed  a  most  distinguished  and 
eminent  class.  We  can  go  back  to  idco,  before  any  othernation 
undertook  the  encouragement  of  the  Renaissance  in  art,  and  find 
that  the  Flemish,  now  generally  classed  under  the  category  of 
Datch,  were  pre-eminently  first  in  the  arts  and  the  manufactures 
of  all  Euro[)c  ;  and  to  this  day  we  find  the  Flemish  influence  not 
only  in  England,  but  in  Spain  and  France,  for  Flanders  was  suc- 
cessively under  the  domination  of  Spanish  and  French  rule. 

The  terms  Dutch  and  Flemish  are  used  so  frequently  as 
synonyms  that  it  is  well  to  understand  the  reason. 

The  Netherlands,  or  Low  Countries,  originally  covered  the 
territory  included  in  the  present  Netherlands  and  Belgium  with 
Luxemburg. 

With  the  rise  of  feudalism  the  duchies  of  Brabant,  the 
counties  of  Artois,  Flanders,  Holland,  Hainault  and  the  bishop- 
rics of  Utrecht  and  Liege  developed  semi-independent  authori- 
ties. While  the  people  as  a  whole  retained  common  traits,  the 
northern  provinces  were  distinctly  Germanic  ;  the  Flemings  or 
central  provinces  showed  a  mingling  of  French  and  German, 
while  the  Walloons  of  the  South  were  as  French  as  the  Dutch 
were  German.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  States 
of  the  Netherlands  rose  to  extraordinary  prosperity,  and  some 
of  these  States  were  for  a  time  virtually  independent  republics. 
Next  to  the  Italian  States  they  figured  most  prominently 
in  the  revival  of  art.  Flanders  and  Brabant  were  especially 
flourishing.  Bruges,  Ghent  and  Antwerp  led  in  all  art  pro- 
ductions. 

We  will  not  attempt  to  follow  the  history  of  this  frecjuently 
changing  district.  In  1555,  when  Charles  V  of  Spain  resigned 
the  sovereignty  over  the  Netherlands  to  his  son  Philip  II,  the 
territory   comprised    the  four  duchies  of  Brabant,  Gelderland, 


The  Decorative  Periods 


155 


Limburg,  Luxemburg,  the  Counties  of  Artois,  Flanders,  Hai- 
nault,  Holland,  Namur,  Zutphen,  Zeeland,  the  margravite  of 
Antwerp  and  the  seigniories  of  Friesland,  Groningen,  Mechlin, 
Overyssel  and  Utrecht. 

These  provinces,  as  previously  observed,  were  largely  inde- 
pendent of  one  another  and  prized  their  independence.  The 
country  was  part  Protestant  and  part  Catholic.  Philip  II  was 
Catholic,  and  constant  turmoil  was  the  result  of  the  oppression 
of  the  Protestants.  In  1576  Holland,  Zeeland  (including  Plan- 
ders),  Gelderland,  Utrecht,  Groningen,  Overyssel  and  Friesland 
entered  into  a  union  that  was  eventually  the  founding  of  the 
Dutch  republic,  while  the  southern  provinces  (modern  Belgium) 
continued  under  the  sovereignty  of  Spain.  This  country  in- 
cluded Antwerp,  Flanders,  Limburg,  Brabant,  Liege,  Luxem- 
berg,  Hainault  and  Namur. 

Here,  in  brief,  may  be  found  the  reason  that  we  regard  a 
certain  type  of  work  as  Dutch,  which  is  a  term  covering  broadly 
a  wide  territory. 


GERMAN 

'T'he  Renaissance  appeared  in  Germany  at  a  time  when  the 

1     German  artists  were  wrapped  up  in  Gothic  mannerisms  and 

were  not  receptive  to  the  new  feeling  in  art.     Albrecht  Durer 


VjLTIMVS    ad   MORTt    POJT 
OMNIA   FATA    RECVRSVJ 


The  Decorative  Periods 


157 


deserves  the  credit  for  the  introduction  of  the  Renaissance  style 
into  Germany  in  1550.  We  have  reproduced  three  examples  in 
Albrecht  Durer's  best  style. 

In  his  designs  a  struggle  between  two  duties  can  easily  be 
seen.  He  could  not  entirely  give  up  Gothic  and  had  not  the  fine 
constructive  understanding  of  the  new  forms  possessed  by  the 
Italian   painters  from  whom  he  had  learned.     Hans  Borkmair 


DEV.S^MFVGrV7Vl^/V\rWw 


iL!B:j 


^iL  Vf'  1'  i 


^QUWkl^EBMi'J 


■J. 


158 


The  Decorative  Periods 


was  the  first  fully-informed  and  unmistakable  propagator  of  the 
pure  Renaissance  style.  Hans  Holbein  was  a  genuine  Renais- 
sance artist. 

The  fact  that  painters  first  mastered  the  Renaissance  forms 
and  introduced  them  into  Germany,  and  thus  by  a  roundabout 
way  led  architecture  and  decoration  to  accept  Renaissance  mo- 
tifs, gave  to  German  Renaissance  its  bizarre  character.  Only  at 
the  dose  of  the  Renaissance  century  and  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Seventeenth  Century,  when  regular  personal  intercourse  began 
between  German  masters  in  Italy  and  Italian  masters  in  Ger- 
many, and  the  principal  works  on  Italian  architecture  became 

generally  known 
in  Germany, 
did  the  Germans 
become  con- 
scious of  what 
they  had  neg- 
lected.    The 
character  of  the 
German  Re- 
naissance mani- 
fests itself  in 
architectural 
details  based  on 
the  North 
Italian  Renais- 
sance in  the  em- 
ployment of  the 
ancient  orders. 
Columns,  piers 
and  entablatures 
of  the  different 
styles  are  always 
richlydecorated, 
and  balustrades 
are  particularly 
in  favor. 


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ir> 

ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE— ELIZABETHAN 


THE  GREAT  BED  OF  WARE 
ELIZABETHAN 


ELIZABETHAN   was   a  term 
applied  to  the  character 
of  English  Renaissance  that 
flourished  during  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  1 558-1603.    The 
English  Renaissance  began 
in  1509,  under  Henry  VIII, 
whose  reign   continued  to 
1547.      It  immediately  fol- 
lowed Perpendicular  or  Florid 
Gothic. 

The  Renaissance  move- 
ment swept  all  Europe  and 
was  introduced  into  England 
by  the  Italian  architect  John  of  Padua,  under  the  patronage  of 
Henry  VIII,  at  a  time  contemporary  with  a  similar  movement 
in  France  under  Francis  I.  It  naturally  showed  lingering  Gothic 
details,  as  well  as  the  Italian  influence  of  John  of  Padua,  and 
the  German  influence  of  Holbein,  who  settled  in  England  about 
1524. 

Late  Tudor,  or  Elizabethan,  home  furnishings  owed  much 
to  the  close  commercial  relations  existing  at  that  time  between 
England,  Spain,  Holland  and  Germany.  The  English  Renais- 
sance movement  extended  into  the  Georgian  Period,  but  assumed 
so  many  distinct  forms  that  we  speak  of  the  period  before  1603 
as  Tudor  or  Elizabethan  ;  the  period  between  1603  and  1649  as 
Stuart  or  Jacobean.  From  Charles  I,  1625-49,  to  Queen  Anne, 
1702-14,  the  Italian  influence  prevailed  strongly  in  England. 

The  student  should  distinguish  between  architecture  and 
furnishings,   bearing  always  in   mind   the   commercialism  that 


ELIZABETHAN 


ELUAI5ETHAN 


The  Decorative  Periods 


169 


Gothic  (English Gothic)  extended  from     Elizaijeth,  155S-1603.'' 

1189-1509.  Jacobean,  1603-1649. 

Henry  \'II,  14S5-1509.  James  I,  1603-1625. 

Founder  Tudor  Line.  Founder  Stuart  Line. 

English  Renaissance,  1509.  Charles  I,  1623-1649. 

Henry  VI  H,  1509-1547.  Inigo  Jones  dictator  of  style. 

Renaissance  style    introduced    by    Charles  II,  1660-1685. 

John  of  I'adua.  Ja.mes  II,  1685-1689. 

Edward  \'1.  1547-1553-  William  and  Mary,  16S9-1702. 

Mary,  1553  155S.  Queen  Anne,  1702-1714. 

Flemish  Renaissance  influenced  the  period  from  1507  to  1584.  Dutch 
Republic  founded  1576.  "German  Renaissance,  beginning  under  Albreclit 
Diirer  about  1550.  Spanish  Renaissance,  beginning  about  1500,  also  influ- 
enced the  English  styles. 


affected  the  furnishing  of  a  house  independent  of  any  architectural 
and  art  movement.  From  the  beginning  of  the  English  Renais- 
sance, 1509,  down  to,  and  including,  the  period  of  George  I, 
much  that  was  Dutch  or  Flemish  was  generously  adopted.  In 
fact,  Flemish  and  English  furniture  and  carving  were  similar 

in  the  Elizabethan  and 
Jacobean  epochs. 

The  table  here  illus- 
trated is  purely  Flemish 
and  yet  Elizabethan  ; 
and   the  great   bed  of 
Ware    is    likewise 
Flemish. 

The  Elizabethan  was 
a  period  of  affluence  in 
the  arts,  commerce  and 
literature,  an  age  that 
gave  birth  to  Spenser, 
Shakespeare  and  Bacon, 
and  produced  the  East 
India  Company.     It  was 
an  age  of  industrial  em- 
ployment  and    great 
.,.J^JulT/^ZZ'-I.VIL.r  maritime  activity,  and 

FLEMISH-ELIZABETHAN  CARVING  -'  ' 


ELIZABETHAN,  155S-1603 


ELIZABETHAN   MERGES 


JACOBEAN,  1603-1649 


INTO    JACOBEAN 


GERMAN-ELIZABETHAN  IRON  WORK 


the  commercial,  political  and  religious  sympathy  that  existed 
between  England  and  Holland  naturally  introduced  a  great  deal 
of  Dutch  feeling  into  the  English  furnishing  arts.  So  "  Eliza- 
bethan "  has  clung  in  the  history  of  art  as  indicating  the  period 
when  the  English,  although  receiving  classic  Renaissance  princi- 
ples in  architecture  through  John  of  Padua  and  Holbein,  used 
freely  fabrics  and  furniture  from  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  Ger- 
many and  France. 

What  is  generally  understood  as  Elizabethan  was  the  strap 
design,  interlaced  bands,  pierced  scroll-work,  festoons,  fruit  and 
drapery  interspersed  with  roughly-executed  figures  of  human 
beings,  grotesque  monsters  and  animals ;  we  see  the  same  in 
Dutch  or  Flemish.  Paneled  compartments  are  often  filled  with 
coats-of-arms.  Grotesque  brackets  are  frequently  used,  and 
though  the  architects  worked  along  classic  lines,  variety  resulted 
from  the   imported  furnishings.     In   the  Jacobean    Period   the 


The  Decoratixe  Periods  173 

classic  influence  became  greater  and  the  imports  less,  for  laws 
were  passed  restricting  imports. 

The  rooms  were  furnished  in  panels ;  the  doors  were  pan- 
eled ;  the  ceilings  and  wainscots  paneled  ;  in  some  instances  the 
paneling  went  from  floor  to  ceiling  ;  in  other  cases  only  the  wain- 
scoting and  doors  were  treated,  the  wall  space  above  being 
covered  with  Flemish  tapestry.  It  will  be  recalled  that  Hamlet 
killed  Polonius  behind  the  tapestry  that  covered  the  walls.  Hang- 
ings of  embossed  leather  from  Spain  were  used,  in  gold,  silver 
and  colors. 

In  small  rooms  chintzes  from  India  were  used.  Pepys  wrote 
in  his  diary  :  "I  bought  my  wife  a  chint,  that  is,  a  painted  India 
calico,  to  line  her  new  study,"  and  these  chintz-treated  walls  be- 
came quite  common. 

In  some  houses  the  ceiling  was  carved  in  elaborate  fretwork, 
ornamented  with  bosses  and  coats-of-arms.  The  windows  were 
in  small  diamond- shaped  or  square  panes,  and  in  the  centre  of 
each  window  were  frequently  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  family. 

The  arms  were  also  placed  upon  the  chimney  piece;  low- 
cushioned  seats  were  bountifully  supplied  with  movable  cushions 
covered  with  rich  silks.  Indeed,  for  as  far  back  as  1200  we  find 
sofa  cushions  much  in  favor.  The  chimney-piece  in  the  I^liza- 
bethan  room  was  invariably  the  important  feature.  It  was  in 
arched  panels,  moldings,  scrolls,  coats-of-arms,  flowers,  inter- 
laced strap  work,  supported  by  grotesque  terminal  figures, 
which  later  in  the  Jacobean  Period  became  more  simplified  and 
severe. 

The  fireplace  was  large  enough  to  admit  of  big  logs  ;  the 
woodwork  was  deep  and  dark  and  time-toned,  but  there  was  no 
lack  of  color  in  the  use  of  the  silken  stuffs  and  wall-coverings  of 
tapestry  or  print.  The  character  of  the  wood  carving  was  usually 
flat,  and  the  Fifteenth  Century  German  type  of  ironwork  here 
illustrated  was  often  used.  The  heavy  tables  and  chairs  fre- 
quently stood  upon  bulging,  bulky  legs,  borrowed  from  the  Dutch. 
Ball  feet  were  common. 

English  stucco  work  of  the   Elizabethan  period  often  con- 


English  Period,  showing  the  decline  of^he  Gothic  influence  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Renaissance,  presenting  one  of  the  earliest  turned  wood  chairs, 
examples  of  which  were  found  in  America  among  the  Pilgrim  settlers. 


The  Decorative  Periods 


175 


^^  sisted  of  geometrical  paneling,  fan  tracery 
^IjjpiM- 1|-^  and  pendentives  of  the  preceding  century. 
'—'£..  These  pendentives  were  connected  together 

by  bands  of  pierced  strap  work,  decorated 
with  Arabesques  in  low  relief.  Later  in  the 
Jacobean  period,  which  is  arbitrarily  fixed  at  1603 
and  continued  until  1649,  the  panels  were  composed 
of  purely  geometrical  forms,  circles,  squares,  loz- 
enges and  interlacing  quatrefoils. 


ELIiABETHAN 


THE  Jacobean  Period  covered  almost  twenty-five 
years,  from  1603  to  1625.  The  Tudor  mix- 
ture of  Gothic  and  Renaissance  was  gradually 
modified  under  the  influence  of  Inigo  Jones.  The 
modification  simplified  the  shape  of  the  furniture 
and  introduced  classic  detail,  and  the  result  of  this 
influence  may  be  called  Jacobean.  The  Jacobean 
period  was  an  art  period,  and  may  be  best  charac- 
terized as  that 
period  where 
simple  classic 
details  were  in- 
troduced upon 
heavy  and  sub- 
stantial furni- 
ture, as   distin- 


guished from  the  later  classic 
revival  of  the  brothers  Adam 
or  the  Transition  Period  in 
France.  The  classic  design 
details  were  applied  to  a  sim- 
plified construction  of  the 
furniture  of  the  Elizabethan 
Period. 


JACOBEAN 


SHELL   DETAILS,   SHOWING   THE   ORIGIN    OF    ROCOCO    DESIGN. 
INTRODUCED  ORIULNALLV    LNDEK   LOUIS   XIII 


LOUIS  XIV,  LOUIS  XV,  LOUIS  XVI 

LOUIS  XIV,   1643-I715;    LOUIS  XV,    1715-I774; 
LOUIS  XVI,   I774-I793 

WE  ARE  frequently  asked  :  "  What  are  the  actual,  tangible 
points  of  difference  between  the  Louis  XIV,  Louis  XV 
and  Louis  X\'I  periods  of  design  ?  " 

Louis  XIV  followed  the  Renaissance  or  Classical  Revival, 
in  a  masculine  spirit  embodying  the  conventionalized  Anthemion 
and  Acanthus. 

Louis  XV,  while  affecting  the  same  forms,  exaggerated  and 
effeminated  them,  and  showed  them  in  unbalanced  relations  and 
used  natural  fiovvers  and  emplo)'ed  ribbon  and  lace  effects,  fes- 
tooned flowers  and  hanging  bas- 
kets with  Rococo  details — roc 
meaning  rock,  and  coquillc  mean- 
ing shell. 

Louis  X\'I  returned  to  the 
Classic  simplicity  of  line  incorpo- 
rating dainty  florals  ;  in  furniture 
the  legs  were  usually  straight  and 
suggested  architectural  columns 
and  capitals. 

Now,  to  comprehend  clas- 
sicism one  must  at  least  know 
the  Anthemion  and  Acanthus, 
and  beA^jle  to  identify  them,  no 
matter/n  what  decorative  spirit 
they  may  be  treated.  louis  xv 


LOUIS    XIV 


LOUIS   XIV 


ROCOCO 

Any  deviation  from  the  Classic  treatment  of  these  motifs 
marks  the  departure  from  the  Renaissance  spirit.  The  Louis 
XIV  or  Ouatorze  period  developed  richly  decorative  furniture 
with  marquetry  of  tortoise-shell  and  brass,  introduced  by  Andr6 
Boule,  frequently  called  Buhl  work. 

The  sumptuousness  of  the  bed  of  the  period  of  Louis  XIV 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  custom  of  fashionable  ladies 
to  receive  their  guests  .  abed.  We  frequently  see  examples  of 
Seventeenth  Century  beds  with  bouquets  of  plumes  or  feathers 
rising  from  the  head  posts.  These  feathers  were  of  various 
colors  and  sizes,  and  had  no  symbolism — simply  decorative. 
This  period  encouraged  the  Gobelin  tapestry  weaving. 

The  Louis  XV  or  Quinze  period  (1715-74)  was  the  period  of 


ROCOCO 


I  82 


The  Decorative  Periods 


the  Rococo,  and  introduced  the  pastoral  scenes  of  Watteau  and 
the  inlaid  furniture  of  Jean  Frangois  Oeben  for  Madame 
Pompadour. 

The  Louis  XVI  or  Seize  (1774-93)  introduced  fine  marquetry 
work,  by  Riesener  and  David  Roentgen,  with  ormulu  mountings 
by  Gouthiere. 

The  first  eight  years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV  constituted  the 
Regency  period.  Under  Louis  XIV  the  Gobelin  factory  became 
royal  property  ;  the  Beauvais  Tapestry  Works  were  also  estab- 
lished, and  the  style  of  decoration  ran  naturally  to  wall  panels, 
for  the  purpose  of  presenting  these  pictorial  fabrics.  During 
the  time  of  Louis  XV  panels  were  so  much  used  that  the  walls 
were  frequently  designed  with  a  view  to  this  treatment. 

The  subject  is  especially  interesting  when  studied  from  the 
pictorial  point  of  view,  as  expressed  by  either  tapestries  or 
painted  panels.  The  scenes  illustrated  in  the  Louis  XIV  period 
were  serious  and  classic,  but  under  Louis  XV,  instead  of  these 
tableaux  of  pomp,  grandeur,  victory  and  battle,  the  subjects 
were  frivolous,  softer  and  more  coquettish,  and  full   of  love 


>:iiini;iiifiai»'fi 


LOUIS   XIV 


The  Decorative  Periods 


I  S3 


and  pastoral  sentiment  as  por- 
trayed by  Watteau  and  his 
contemporaries.     The  ladies 
of  the  court  circle  were  de- 
picted in  fashionable  attire. 
Dainty  landscape  scenes  were 
jiresented.     Romance  and 
fashionable  life  were  depicted. 
"The  Lady  in  the  Sleigh," 
the  •'  Lady  in  the  Swing," 
the  "Courtier  and  the  Shep- 
herdess," "Frolic,"  "Folly," 
"  The  Dancing  Girl  " — were 
the  subjects  which  succeeded 
historical  and  mythological 
treatments,  and  in  this  panel 
treatment,  more  than  in  any 
other  form  of  design,  the 
over-ornate  character  of  the 
Louis  XV  period  was  con- 
spicuous.    No  hesitation  was 
felt  in  adopting  Chinese 
details,  and  while  they  were 
not  always  expressed  in  the 
carving  of  the  woodwork  of  a 
room,  they  were  in  evidence 
continually  in  fabrics  and 
wall  panels. 

It  was  during  this  period 
that  designs  presented  rib- 
bons and  laces,  togethe^r  with 
a  more  naturalistic  treatment  of  floral  form. 

The  Rococo  details  we  of  course  understand  as  part  of  this 
period,  although  we  frequently  confuse  what  is  apparently  the 
shell  period  with  the  conventionalized  Anthemion  of  the  Louis 
XIV  epoch.  Again  a  detail  that  is  always  conspicuous  is  the 
irregular  harmony  of  related  parts.     In  the  time  of   Louis  XIV 


LuUlb    XIV 


1 84 


The  Decorative  Periods 


a  design  balanced  in  details,  but  in 
the  succeeding  period,  while  there 
was  a  balance  of  harmony  which 
was  satisfying,  it  was  not  a  balance 
of  actual  details. 

Stripes  came  in  at  the  time  of 
Madame  Pompadour,  and  yet  al- 
most invariably  we  associate  the 
use  of  stripes  with  Marie  Antoi- 
nette (Louis  XVI). 

The  difference  between  the 
periods  is  a  difference  frequently 
of  temperament ;  we  can  best  con- 
ceive the  spirit  of  the  Louis  XVI 
epoch  by  the  knowledge  that  it  was 
a  return  to  the  pure  Classics. 


IN  1660,  under  Le  Brun,  manager 
of  the  Gobelin  works,  the  first 
serious  work  towards  establishing 
a  characteristic  school  of  French 
tapestry  design  was  undertaken, 
and  it  must  be  said  that  Le  Brun's 
work  was  grand,  massive  and  all- 
satisfying,  his  pictorial  subjects 
reflecting  invariably  the  spirit  of 
Valor  and  Conquest,  the  Purity  of 
the  Passions,  Progress  of  the  Arts 
and  the  Sciences  and  Allegories  of 
an  exalting  nature. 

Throughout  the  Louis  XIV 
period  the  tapestry  cartoons  were 
dignified,  but  towards  the  end  of 
the  regime  they  took  on  a  lighter 
vein,  developing  at  length,  under 
Louis  XV  —  especially  the  first 
eight    years,    known    as   the 


LOUIS    XIV 


LOUIS    XVI 


LOUIS   Xll[ 


THE    CHINESE    SPIRIT,    LOUIS    XV 


C — ._, 1. ._ 1 . k«<iiu.»_:_: t  ......    .  . ' 


ON 


LOUIS    XV 


LOUIS  XV — REGENCY  PERIOD.      (SEE  PAGE  1 96) 


196 


The  Decorative  Periods 


Regency  period — a  depiction  of  contemporary  life,  and  especially 
eloquent  became  the  work  of  Antoine  Watteau.  He  was  the 
delineator  of  the  manners  and  amusements  of  his  day,  as  repre- 
sented by  the  masquerades  and  court  customs  and  Arcadian 
affectations,  in  that  period  so  much  the  rage. 

Naturally,  in  the  representations  of  scenes  of  gaiety  and 
frivolity,  the  decorative  surroundings,  or  frame-work,  were 
treated  more  lightly.  It  must  not  be  understood  that  all  serious 
work  was  stopped  ;  it  was  simply  an  age  of  folly 
and  extravagance,  and  serious  work  was  appre- 
ciated by  the  few.  To  be  sure,  Oudry's  famous 
cartoons,  illustrating  the  La  Fontaine  fables, 
were  executed  about  this  time  in  Beauvais  tap- 
estry, and  some  of  the  finest  work  of  the  Gobe- 
lins was  undertaken,  but  the  nudities  of  Boucher 
and  the  frivolities  of  Watteau  were  the  fashion, 
and  gave  lasting  imprint  to  the  Louis  XV 
period. 

Occasionally  also  may  be  noted  in  this 
period  the  unmistakable  marks  of  the  Chinese 
influence,  and  upon  such  occasions  the  quasi 
decorator  is  inclined  to  criticise  what  he  regards 
as  an  anachronism.  On  the  contrary,  the  in- 
troduction of  these  cascades  and  grottoes  and 
bits  of  mountains  and  pagodas  was  natural  to 
the  development  of  the  period. 

About  1720  Louis  XV  despatched  an  em- 
bassy to  the  Emperor  of  China  with  goods  of 
rare  value,  charged  with  a  commission  to  en- 
courage the  opening  of  more  extensive  trade 
relations.  The  emperor  was  cordial  in  his  re- 
ception of  the  king's  messengers,  and  returned 
magnificent  gifts  lavishly  decorated.  This  in- 
cident rendered  the  Chinese  style  fashionable 
in  the  upper  circles  of  France,  and  for  some 
time  thereafter  Chinese  vases  appeared  in 
French  textile  designs  juxtaposed  to  dragcns. 


LOL'IS    .W 


landscapes  with  curious  Chinese  perspective  and  pig-tailed 
sons  of  the  Far  East.  It  had  its  rage  and  passed,  but  there 
lingered  for  many  years  the  subtle  influence  of  China  in 
the  use  of  plant  forms  drawn  from  nature,  flowers  and  leaves 
rendered  with  the  full  effect  of  light  and  shade,  fruit  also, 
cherries  and  plums,  and  a  fantastic  form  of  floral  was  generously 
adopted,  together  with  architectural  fragments,  cascades  and 
rococo  details.     It  was  all  a  capricious,  whimsical  style. 


The  Decorative  Periods  199 

During  the  late  years  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV,  and  while 
the  wildest  extravagances  were  being  encouraged  by  him,  his 
favorite,  Du  Barry,  and  her  satellites,  his  son  was  exploring  the 
sciences,  happy  in  the  congenial  companionship  of  his  young  and 
cultivated  partner. 

Extravagances  and  court  profligacy  contributed  to  the 
popularity  of  the  most  lavish  and  gorgeous  decorative  style,  and 
the  presence  of  the  Dauphiness  as  a  prominent  figure  was  a 
picture  of  refinement  amid  ribaldry,  culture  amid  chicanery,  but 
she  held  aloof  from  these  associations,  and  the  refinement  of  the 
style  known  later  as  the  Louis  XVI  was  a  style  which  reflected 
Marie  Antoinette's  personality.  Dumaspictures  with  his  won- 
derful pen  the  visit  of  the  king  to  his^son  the  Dauphin,  after- 
wards Louis  XVI,  and  his  wife,  Marie  Antoinette,  at  that  time 
being  but  seventeen  years  old.  The  following  is  a  scrap  of  the 
conversation,  which  conveys  an  excellent  idea  of  the  tempera- 
ment of  the  young  couple,  who  were  moulding  the  period  style 
of  Louis  Seize. 

On  the  way  the  two  travelers  found  the  Dauphin  standing  motionless 
upon  the  lawn,  measuring  the  sun's  altitude. 

The  King  said,  loudly  enough  to  be  heard, "Louis  is  a 

finished  scholar,  but  he  is  wrong  thus  to  run  his  head  against  the  sciences; 
his  wife  will  have  reason  to  complain  of  such  conduct." 

"  By  no  means,  sire,"  replied  a  low,  soft  voice,  issuing  from  a  thicket. 

And  the  King  saw  the  Dauphiness  running  towards  him.  She  had  been 
talking  to  a  man  furnished  with  papers,  compasses  and  chalks. 

"  Sire,"  said  the  Princess,  '•  Monsieur  Mique,  my  architect." 

"  Ah  !  "  exclaimed  the  King  ;  "  then  you,  too,  are  bitten  by  the  mania, 
madame  ? " 

"  Sire,  it  runs  in  the  family.  .  .  You  may  walk  a  hundred  years  in 
your  grounds  and  you  will  see  nothing  but  straight  alleys  or  thickets,  cut 
off  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  as  the  Dauphin  says,  or  pieces  of  water 
wedded  to  perspectives,  parterres,  or  terraces." 

"  Well,  come,  what  will  you  make  of  my  Trianon  ? " 

"  Rivers,  cascades,  bridges,  grottoes,  woods,  ravines,  houses,  mountains, 
fields." 

•'  For  dolls  ?  "  said  the  King. 

"Alas,  sire,  for  such  kings  as  we  shall  be." 

From  the  period  of  the  Renaissance  the  use  of  draperies 


r-^Vf 


-^... 


') 


:'^;.r# 


i  ,    ''Mi'  It  ■ 


LOLIS    W 


LOUIS   XVI 


C 
H    ^ 

W    S 

•J 

z 


< 

a-    ■z. 


2  Q 

H  < 

w  w 

^  H 

< 

O  td 

<  z 

^  a 


204  The  Decorative  Periods 

simply  supplemented  the  decorative  composition  of  the  room,  in 
sympathy,  of  course,  with  the  other  furnishings. 

Primarily,  draperies  were  utilized  only  because  valuable  as 
portieres.  They  were  hung  at  a  doorway  for  utilitarian  rather 
than  decorative  reasons,  but  as  the  decorative  art  progressed  the 
use  of  beautiful  fabrics  was  more  and  more  taken  up,  until  dur- 
ing the  periods  of  Louis  XIV  and  XV  they  became  part  of  the 
fixed  composition  of  the  room. 

To  differentiate  between  the  drapery  styles  of  the  period 
from  1500,  the  French  Renaissance,  to  the  close  of  Louis  XVI's 
regime,  1793,  one  has  only  to  follow  the  general  decorative 
characteristics  of  the  periods. 

In  the  Louis  XIII  period  straight  valances  were  common. 

In  Louis  XIV's  time  an  earnest  and  conscientious  effort 
was  made  to  perpetuate  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance.  Draperies 
were  used  as  a  necessary  adjunct,  and  not  as  a  decorative  acces- 
sory, although,  we  must  admit,  in  the  more  ornate  form  of  the 
Louis  XIV  style  the  fabrics  were  hung  in  a  manner  to  harmon- 
ize with  the  architectural  and  decorative  character  of  the  room. 
Cut  valances  and  Greek  valances  came  in,  but  they  were  used 
only  where  necessity  seemed  to  dictate,  and  followed  classic 
rules.  Where  heavy  curtains  were  drawn  back  they  were 
bunched  and  hung  full. 

With  the  Louis  XV  style,  however,  came  an  over-elabora- 
tion of  detail  in  the  general  furnishings  of  a  room,  and  the 
draperies  followed  the  same  spirit.  The  valances  were  cut  in 
the  form  suggested  by  the  rococo  tendency  of  the  times,  and 
beneath  these  extravagant  valances  other  draperies  were 
gathered  in  innumerable  folds  of  a  complex  character.  In  many 
cases  light  draperies  were  draped  over  the  valance,  and  in  still 
other  cases  the  valance  and  curtain  combined  in  one.  Even  the 
bottoms  of  the  chairs  were  draped. 

This  tendency  to  drape  furniture  reached  England,  and  was 
taken  up  by  Hepplewhite ?\i  Sheraton. 


TOWARDS  the  end  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  the  hard  and  fast 
rules  of  Classic  Renaissance  were  regarded  by  many  as 
fetters,  and  the  effort  on  the  part  of  this  class  to  achieve  impres- 
siveness  and  grandeur  became  expressed  in  the  sacrifice  of  good 
taste  and  unity  of  design,  and  the  production  of  a  composite 
form  termed  Baroque  was  the  result. 

In  England  and  France  the  influence  of  the  Baroque  was 
slight ;  it  was  more  pronounced  in  Germany,  and  may  be  entitled 
by  courtesy  to  a  place  in  period  history,  but  the  term  never- 
theless is  applied  usually  in  the  adjective  sense  to  inartistic 
attempts  at  Renaissance  art. 

The  Baroque  period  extended  in  Germany  into  the  middle 
of  1700.  Originally  hybrid  Renaissance,  it  later  incorporated 
Louis  XIV  and  Louis  XV  features  in  a  mass  of  heavy  and  cum- 
bersome cartouche  and  scroll  forms,  oppressive  and  inconsistent. 


TRANSITION— EMPIRE 

1705-1S14 

AFTER  Louis  X\'I,  the  Revolution;  and  from  1793  until  1800 
the  arts  of  France  lany;uished. 

It  was  a  time  that  anything  of  a  royal  character  was  unjiojiu- 
lar  and  it  was  only  natural  that  upon  the  reorganization — during 
that  period  known  as  the  Transition  Period,  the  Period  of  the 
Directoire — designers  and  decorators  endeavored  to  procure  a 
style  which  in  no  way  suggested  or  followed  the  styles  made 
famous  by  the  preceding  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  royalty. 

The  Transition  Period  of  design  is  a  form  that  was  distin- 
guished by  an  adoption,  or  more  properly,  an  adaptation,  of  the 
classic  periods.  P'rom  the  downfall  of  Louis  X\T  until  the 
death  of  Napoleon  a  distinctly  new  expression  of  decoration  was 
developed.     We  can  go  back  to  the  time  of  Marie  Antoinette 


FRENCH   TRANSITION    OR   DIRECTOIRE   PERIOD,    1 795 


EMPIRE.       NAPOLEON  S  ROOM  IN  THE  GRAND  TRIANON 


f^j^^^^i^m^skCL^3^:t^^;^s^sjs^ 


THE   TRANSITION  OR  DIRECTOIRE   PERIOD,    I795 


The  Decorative  Periods 


21  I 


and  note  this  disposition  to  simplify.  Jacques  Louis  David,  who 
was  court  painter  under  Louis  X\'I,  became  cUuin^^  the  Transi- 
tion Period  the  prime  influence  and  in  time  the  Dictator  of  this 
movement  to  revive  the  Classic. 

The  Transition  Peri(,)d  in  its  influence  was  largely  Roman  or 
Pompeiian.  As  expressed  by  the  French  it  had  a  daintiness  and 
delicacy  that  was  charming,  and  it  is  not  singular  that  the  favor 
with  which  it  was  received  gave  encouragement  to  a  similar 
character  of  tlesign  in  Lngland,  for  Adam  and  Hepplewhite  fol- 
lowed along  on  the  same  lines.  It  can  be  best  understood  by  a 
study  of  our  illustrations;  they  show  a  return  to  the  old  princi- 
ples which  were  so  popular  in  the  pure  Italian  Renaissance  early 
in  the  fifteenth  century. 

As  the  influence  of  David  became  manifest  in 
the  time  of  Louis  XVI  and  the  Directoire  Period, 
it  became  authoritative  under  Napoleon.     We  note 
in  the  popular  representations  of  the  Empire,  or 
Napoleonic  style  a  great  deal  that  is  Roman, 
Egyptian  and  Grecian.     In  the  study  of  these  sub- 
jects we  frequently  discover  influences  of  the  one 
bearing  upon  the  other ;  so  it  is  interesting  to 
observe,  also,  that  while  the  Napoleonic  or  Empire 
form  is  supposed  to  very  largely  contain  details  in 
commemoration  of  Napoleon's  conquests,  its  origin 
can  hardly  be  attributed  to  Napoleon,  for  its  intro- 
duction was  started  before  Napoleon  was  ever 
heard  of.     With  the  exception  of  the  laurel  wreaths 
and  bee  there  is  nothing  introduced  in  the  Napo- 
leonic school  that  is  not  very  properly  in  line 
with  the  Directoire  Period,  although  Napoleon 
was  doubtless  drawn  by  sympathy  to  the  Roman 
heroics  of  decoraticjn  which  David  had  already 
introduced,  and  under  his  patronage  and  liberality 
the  style  became  still  more  popular. 

It  is  not  in  the  design  character  so  much 
as  in  its  application  that  we  have  the  full 
force  of  the  Empire  style.     These  details 


FRENCH  INFLUENCE  UPON  THE  ENGLISH  CHIPPENDALE  WORK, 
CONFUSED    BY    THE    GOTHIC    AND    CHINESE    CHARACTERISTICS 


The  Decorative  Periods 

were,  as  a  rule,  applied  in  the  Empire  period  in 
detached   form.     The    Transition    expressed    the 
classic  character  in  design  in  a  composition  pro- 
gressive and  complete,  while  the  Kmpire  expressed 
it  in  detached  or  fragmentary  form.     In  woodwork 
there   was   little  or   no  carving,  and  most  of  the 
decoration   was   in   applique ;   the 
decorative  motifs  were  the  wreath 
and   laurel  branches, 
torch,  Napoleonicbee, 
the  crown,  the  letter 
N,  winged  figures  em- 
blematic   of    liberty, 
antique  heads  of  hel- 
meted    warriors   rep- 
resenting   Roman 
faces,    trophies    of 
lances  surmounted  by 
the    Phrygian  cap  of 
liberty,    vases   found 
in     the    tombs,    and 
the     panther's     muzzle     and 
claw.    Occasionally  Egyptian 
details  were  introduced  com- 
memorative    of     Napoleon's 
campaign. 

It  was  a  period 
of  heroics.  Tht 
tender,  the  grace- 
ful, the  poetic 
spirit  of  the  French 
Transition,  as  ex- 
pressed alsoin  Eng- 
land by  the  broth- 
ers Adam,  was 
eliminated  in  the 
Err.pire  schojl. 


EARLY  QUEEN  ANNE.   1660 

Seldom  done  in  mahogany,  which  was  not  used  by 
English  cabinetmakers  until  after  1700. 


QUEEN  ANNE  PERIOD 

Charles  11—1660-1685. 
James  11  —  1685-1689. 
William  and  Marv — 1689-1702. 

Anne — 1702-1714— (dutch  furniture  and  Chinese  decorations 
greatly  used). 

THE  Queen  Anne  Period,  which  followed  the  Jacobean,  was 
created  in  the  spirit  of  commercialism.  While  Queen  Anne 
did  not  reign  until  1702  the  arts  that  are  associated  with  the 
name  cover  a  term  twenty  years  prior  and  subsequent  there- 
to. Owing  to  the  close  political,  mercantile  and  religious  ties 
e.xisting  between  the  Dutch  and  the  English  at  this  time,  the 
Queen  Anne  style  became  decidedly  Dutch. 

Daniel  Marot,  who  left  France  in  1686  and  went  to  Holland, 
became  in  1690  chief  architect  of  the  English  Crown,  and  until 
his  death  in  171 8  Marot  designed  the  interior  decorations  and 
furniture  for  many  mansions  and  palaces  in  P^ngland.  Here  we 
have  the  direct  artistic  influence  of  the  Dutch  artist  and  artisan, 
as  well  as  the  commercial  influence.  Moreover,  to  make  the 
period  of  Queen  Anne  all  the  more  complex,  we  have  the  intro- 
duction of  Oriental  taste  that  had  reached  Amsterdam  and  Lon- 
don before  Paris.  Indeed,  traffic  with  the  far  East  was  prob- 
ably a  more  important  factor  in  the  formation  of  the  Queen 
Anne  style  than  any  other  influence.  The  English  and  the  Dutch 
East  Indiamen  poured  the  Oriental  art  products  into  their  re- 
spective capitals,  and  the  Queen  Anne  Period  was  full  of  these 
characteristics. 

In  America  as  well  as  in  England  the  china  craze  took 
complete  possession.  In  the  ordinary  house  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Anne  there  was  considerable  jumble.     The  carved  oak  or 


2l6 


The  Decorative  Periods 


walnut  cane-bottomed  chairs  of   Charles  II,  the  Dutch  squat 
chairs  with  claw  and  ball  or  cabriole  leg,  were  all  in  evidence. 

Oriental  goods  were  particularly  noticeable,  especially  lac- 
quered screens  and  Indian  stuffs.  It  was  all  interesting,  because 
picturesque,  but  it  was  commercial  art  simply.  It  is  worthy  of 
note,  however,  that  while  decorations  and  merchandise  furnish- 
ings were  affected  by  the  commercial  relations,  the  magnificent 
architectural  work  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren  began  during  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne  and  grew  steadily  into  the  Georgian  Period^ 
which  started  with  George  I,  Queen  Anne's  successor. 


< 

H 


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u 
z 

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^'^.::^ 


GEORGIAN 


FOLI 
b 


.LOWING    the    Eliza- 
bethan and  Jacobean 
periods  came  the  Queen 
Anne,  and  following  Queen 
Anne,  the  Georgian. 

To    comprehend    the 
Georgian,  it  is  necessary  to 
recapitulate. 

In  England  the  Re- 
naissance revival  of  John 
of  Padua  (1509)  was  along 
pretentious  lines,  but  the 
movement  was  confined  to 
architecture.  Albrecht 
Durcr  in  1550  influenced 
the  revival  of  German  Re- 
naissance, and  Inigo  Jones 
in  1652  introduced  the 
severely  classic,  the  simpler 
forms  of  which  were  taken 
up  in  America.  But  inde- 
pendent of  the  architects,  England  and  her  colonies  were  always 
influenced  by  commercialism,  and  the  classic  revival  had  little 
effect  upon  home  furnishings. 

Until  1660  English-made  furniture  was  scarce  and  usually 


J.  CARTER 


EXTREME  ADAM 


of  the  turned-wood  type.  The  Flemish  was  common  from  1507 
to  1579,  and  from  that  date  on  the  Dutch  Republic  continued  to 
supply  vast  quantities  of  decorative  furnishings.  The  early  East 
Indian  companies  had  also  an  influence  in  the  moulding  of  public 
taste.  The  Dutch  East  India  Co.,  incorporated  1602,  scattered 
its  products  through  England  until  the  latter  part  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Century.  The  English  Company  also  distributed  through 
the  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries  vast  quantities  of 
East  Indian  products — prints,  embroideries,  brassware  and  lac- 
quers. 

Antwerp  was  the  centre  of  commerce,  and  exported,  to  Eng- 
land especially,  a  great  deal  of  house  furnishings. 

With  the  reign  of  George  III  came  a  pronounced  period  of 
classic  revival.  Fresh  impetus  was  given  to  this  movement  by 
Sir  Christopher  Wren,  whose  work  for  William  and  Mary,  Queen 
Anne  and  George  I,  entitles  him  to  the  credit  of  initiating  this 


LATE  QUEEN  ANNE,  1700 


236 


The  Decorative  Periods 


movement. 
His  contem- 
poraries were 
Grinling  Gib- 
bons, James 
Gibbs,Artari, 
Bagutti, 
Hawkesmoor, 
William 
Kent,  Isaac  Ware,  Antonio 
Berrio,  Batty,  Thomas  Lang- 
ley,  William  and  J.  Halfpenny, 
Abraham  Swan  and  Sir  John  Van 
Brugh.  But  the  dignity  of  this 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  archi- 
tects was  by  no  means  upheld  in 
the  furnishings  trade,  for  in  the 
next  fifty  years,  what  for  want  of 
a  better  name  we  would  call  the 
Transition  Period,  held  vogue  in 
England,  introducing  the  work  of 
Sir  William  Chambers  and  Chippendale,  with  the  Chinese,  the 
Gothic,  the  French  and  the  Oriental  influence,  until  the  advent  of 
the  brothers  Adam,  when  out  of  the  chaos  again  emerged  the 
classic — a  reflex  of  the  discoveries  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii 
and  the  development  of  a  pure  style  in  furnishings.  As  early  as 
1752  William  Halfpennypublishedabookon  Chinese  architecture 
and  decoration.  In  1757  Sir  William  Chambers  published  his 
book  on  the 
same  sub- 
jects.   Later, 

as  architect  ihi  iis-^^^-j  11  lo-^. 

for  the  Dow-        W&^'M  % 
ager  Princess 
of  Wales,  he 
introduced  a  brass  handles 


G.  RICHARDSON. 


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PERGOLESI 


great  deal  of  the  Chinese,  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  the 
popular  craze,  which  soon  became  widespread. 

Thomas  Chippendale  published  the  work  which  brought 
him  fame  in  1754.  It  is  impossible  to  trace  the  characterizing 
details  of  this  style  excepting  in  the  few  pieces  which  outlived 
the  popularity  of  all  else  that  he  did,  because  Chippendale  gave 
his  public 
anything  that 
they  demand- 
ed— Chinese, 
Gothic,  old 
Dutch,  any- 
thing. Some 
of  his  designs 
are  almost 
identical  with 
the  French 
originals. 
The  chair 
seats  are  usu- 
ally roomy  to 
accommodate 
the  ladies' 
hoops  and  the 
stiffened  coat 
skirts  of  the 


Above,  design  by  William  Pain  :  below,  on  the  left, 
by  Hepplewhite;  below,  on  the  right,  by  Cipriani. 


THE  CHINESE  AND  FRENCH  INFLUENCE  IN  THE 
CHIPPENDALE  PERIOD.     GEORGE  III 


CHIPPENDALE    SHOWING    CHINESE    INFLUENCE 


period.  The  bandyleg  of  the  Dutch  and  Queen  Anne  period  is 
retained,  and  the  claw  and  ball  feet  are  preserved,  though  beauti- 
fied with  rococo  carving.  Sometimes  the  arms  arc  decorated 
with  lions' or  goats'  heads.  The  "ribband"  back  chair  is  re- 
garded as  his  best  work.  He  saw  everything  with  a  carver's  eye. 
and  little  gilding  or  japanning  was  done  by  him.  His  beds  are 
frequently  full  of  pagoda  tops,  sunk  Gothic  panels  and  "rib- 
band" effects,  but  no  matter  how  mi.xed  the  styles,  his  graceful 
outlines  carried  them  through.  His  wall  decoration  possessed 
much  originality.  To  the  broken  scroll  and  shell  work  of  the 
Rococo  Period  he  added  long-beaked  birds,  dripping  waters,  Chi- 
nese figures,  pagodas  and  whole  scenes  from  .Msop's  Fables. 
He  took  the  Queen  Anne  chair  and  kept  what  was  graceful  in 
its  lines  and  curves  and  added  designs  inspired  by  other  schools, 
producing  a  homogeneous  and  beautiful  whole. 

Chippendale  had  hosts  of  contemporaries — Ince  &  Mayhew, 


CHINESE  INFLUENCE  OF  SIR  WILLIAM  CHAMBERS, 
CHIPPENDALE  PERIOD.    GEORGE  III. 


244 


The  Decorative  Periods 


Manwaring,  Copeland,  Lock,  Crunden,  Johnson  and-  Edwards  & 
Darley,  but  they  all  lacked  his  charm  of  workmanship. 

Indeed,  the  work  of  Ince  &  Mayhew  seems  almost  like  a 
caricature  of  the  Chippendale  style.  Johnson's  work  was  better. 
He  was  very  profuse  in  his  ornamentation,  using  flowers,  birds, 
masques,  fishes,  beasts  and  human  figures  of  fantastic  character. 
Hepplewhite  in  1789  brought  out  his  "Cabinet  Maker  and 
Upholsterer's  Guide."  The  Chinese  atmosphere  had  been  dis- 
pelled by  the  influence  of  the  Brothers  Adam.  Houses  were 
being  built  in  the  classic  style  and  the  interiors  decorated  with 
festoons  of  drapery,  wreaths  of  flowers  caught  up  by  rams'  heads. 
The  shield  or  the  heart-shaped  chair  backs  were  Hepple- 
white's  hall  mark.  Chippendale's  chairs  were  larger  and  more 
solid.  The  leg  terminals  of  the  Hepplewhite  chair  were  frequently 
spade-footed,  as  the  square  terminal  at  the  thin  end  of  the  leg 
was  called. 

Hepplewhite   frequently  painted  and  japanned  his  chairs, 

and  frequently  the  chair 
back  was  carved  in  imita- 
tion of  festoon  or  drapery. 
Hepplewhite  followed  the 
Vernis-Martin  or  varnished 
process  very  closely,  while 
Sheraton  and  Chippendale 
depended  more  for  effect 
upon  the  plain  wood.    The 
royal   plume  within   the 
shield  back  or  crown- 
ing tops  of  pieces  was  a 
common   Hepplewhite 
device. 

Sheraton,  like  Hepple- 
white, was  quick  to   per- 
ceive the  beauties  of  the 
Adam  style;  and  he  often 
CHIPPENDALE  uscd  classic  Ornament, 


246 


The  Decorative  Periods 


reproducing  it  in  the  form  of  marqueterie,  with  carving  added 
only  as  an  accessory.  He  ignored  the  cabriole  leg  of  Chippen- 
dale and  used  either  a  tapering  square  or  turned  leg.  Inlaying 
was  his  specialty,  and  frequently  presented  vases  and  lyres  as 
ornaments  on  the  backs  of  his  chairs.  But  little  by  little  he  tired 
of  inlaid  woods  and  resorted  to  gilded  and  painted  furniture. 
Carved  satinwood  picked  out  with  gilt  and  cameo  panels  with 
gorgeously  colored  wreaths,  cornucopias  and  musical  instru- 
ments, were  details  much  used,  and  for  these  inlaid  medallion 
treatments  he  co-operated  with  Wedgwood,  the  famous  potter. 

As  an  indication  of  the  hybrid  character  of  the  decorative 
art  at  this  time,  we  clip  the  following  from  the  preface  of  Chip- 
pendale's book : 

The  main  object  is  to  induce  the  gentleman  (customer)  to  buy.  If  his 
taste  runs  in  the  Chinese  now  so  much  in  vogue,  there  is  an  assortment  of 
frets  to  select  from  ;  if  Gothic,  here  are  a  few  examples  of  window  traceries. 
If  he  likes  florid  carving,  here  is  a  storehouse  of  suggestions  conveyed  from 
the  French  Renaissance.  I  am  confident  I  can  convince  all  noblemen,  gen- 
tlemen and  others  who 
will  honor  me  with  their 
commands  that  every 
design  in  this  book 
can  be  improved,  both 
as  to  beauty  and  en- 
richment in  the  execu- 
tion of  it. 

Influences  of  the 
discovery   of   long- 
buried  Roman  cities 
affected    the    late 
Georgian  period  to 
a  marked  degree. 
Pompeii,  Hercula- 
neum   and    Stabia, 
Roman  cities,  were 
buried    by  an   erup- 
tion of  Vesuvius  in 
the  year  79  A.   D. 

DIRECTOIRE  INFLUENCE 


THE    SHERATON    FEEl.INO 


o 

o 

-X) 


. —       o 


CLASSIC   COLONIAL 


The  Decorative  Periods 


25; 


Herculaneum  was  discovered  in  1709.     Pompeii 
was  discovered  in  1748. 

Robert  Adam,  the  originator  of  the  style 
bearing  his  name,  visited  Italy  in  1754,  where  he 
spent  three  years.     As  a  result,  all  that  he  did 
for  years  after,  and  all  that  his  associate  artists 
accomplished,  was  Roman.     His  work  was  full 
of   octagons,   ovals,    rounds,  lozenge-shaped 
panels,  fans,  sphin.xes,  Greek  and  Roman  vases, 
medallions  with  figures,  sometimes  draped,  fes- 
toons,  fawns,   cupids,  goats,  carryatids,  rams' 
heads,  griffins,  sea  horses  and  winged  sphin.xes  ; 
and  the  work  of  Pergolesi,  Bartolozzi  and  con- 
temporaries of  the 


KZO 


Cfkouno 


Brothers  Adam,  con- 
tinuing into  the  work 
of  Hepplewhite  and 
Sheraton,  and,  indeed, 
into   the  Thomas 
Hope  period  of  the 
ICnglish  Empire,  all 
bore  the  influence  of 
Roman  research. 
This  tendency  be- 
came manifest,  too, 
in  the  work  of  G. 
Richardson,  Sir 
William  Chambers, 
Columbiani,  Thomas  Milton,  John 
Crunden,  N.  Wallis,  J.    Carter,  Cip- 
riani, Shearer,  W.  and  J.  Pain,  and 
innumerable  lesser  lights  of  the  late 
Eighteenth  Century  period. 

We  call  it  all  Adam,  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  was  simply  the 
contemporaneous  expression  of  the 


WALL  DfCO^ATlOM    in  THE 
CA5ADE.LLABlPjnTO  POHPtil 


258 


The  Decorative  Periods 


classic  arts  revived  by  the  excavations  of  the  long  buried  Roman 
cities. 

The  international  work  of  continuing  these  excavations  in  a 
systematic  method  and  with  modern  engineering  facilities  will 
unquestionably  revive  public  interest  in  the  art  of  the  ancients. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  differentiate  between  the  pro- 
nounced Classic  and  the  Transition  period.  At  the  time  of  the 
rediscovery  of  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii  the  artists  who  studied 
the  restorations  were  naturally  purists.  This  we  notice  especially 
in  the  work  of  the  brothers  Adam  and  in  the  early  work  of 
Jacques  Louis  David  of  the  Directoire  period.  In  time  artistic 
license  took  liberties  with  Classicism,  and  we  find  the  simplicity 
of  the  Adam  methods  lessened  and  the  details  elaborated. 

With  D-ivid  the  transition  was  directly  the  reverse.  The 
lightness  of  his  earlier  style  gave  way  to  a  sterner  treatment,  a 
more  masculine  expression,  the  Empire.  While  this  Empire 
feeling  in  France  developed  a  similar  vein  in  England  under 
Thomas  Hope,  it  developed  also  contemporaneously  a  daintier 
form,  full  of  the  lingering  suggestiveness  of  Louis  XVI,  as  rep- 
resented in  the  work  of  Hepplewhite  and  Sheraton. 


SHERATON    AND   HEPPLEWHITE 


SHERATON    AND   HEPPLEWHITE 


COLONIAL 


c 


1700. 


O  L  O  N  I  A  L 

furnish- 
ings reflected 
the  contempo- 
rary furnishings 
of  the  mother 
country  modi- 
fied intheearlier 

period  by  the 
simple  tastes  of 

the  early  col- 
onists.    In  1607 
Jamestown  was 
settled  by  the 
British.     In  1613  New  York  was  settled 
by  the  Dutch.     In  1620  began  the 
Puritan  settlement  of  New  England. 
The  Dutch  commanded  the  seas,  and 
by  their  commercial  relations  with 
Spain,  Portugal  and  the  East  Indies, 
distributed  the  products  of  those  coun- 
tries throughout  the  civilized  world. 
Antwerp  was  the  great  centre  of  com- 
merce.    Holland  was  receiving  from 
Spain  and  Italy  the  cane  seat  furniture 
which,  subsequently,  under  Charles  II, 
became  popular  in  England. 

English-made  furniture  was  scarce 
and  confined  to  the  turned  wood  type 
or  the  wainscoted  type,  which  to  many 
people  is  known  as  the  Jacobean.    Some- 


TAHLES  SHOWINC;  EARLY 
DL'TCH,  EAST  INOIAN, 
SHERATON  AND  CHINESE 
INFLUENCES 


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times  it  was  Elizabethan  in  style,  the  carving  being  of  the  strap- 
work  character  ;  sometimes  it  took  on  an  Italian  classicism,  and 
while  little  of  this  form  of  chair  treatment  became  popular  in 
America,  a  great  deal  of  it  appeared  on  chests  and  carved  cup- 
boards. Chairs  were  uncommon  ;  benches  and  forms  were  gen- 
erally used,  the  chair  being 
reserved  for  the  guest  of  honor. 
Sometimes  this  chair  was 
square  framed,  but  more  fre- 
quently it  was  of  turned  wood. 
During  the  time  of  James  I 
(1603)  the  table  was  in  form  long 
and  narrow  and  fixed  upon 
cross  bars  or  on  legs  with  heavy 
under-braces.  Later  in  this 
same  reign  appears  the  thousand- 
leg  table. 

In  the  reign  of  Charles  I 
(1625-1649)  couches  made  their 
appearance  ;  tables  increased  in 
size  and  drop  leaves  were  added. 
In  Holland,  at  this  period,  Span- 
ish pieces,  upholstered  with 
fabric  and  leather,  were  coming  i6co 


Candle-raould     Knife  Box 


Pe*Ter 


into  use  among  the  wealthy,  but  the  general  use  of  chairs  in 
Enj,land  dates  from  the  Commonwealth. 

Here  we  have,  then,  the  earliest  Colonial  fur- 
nishings, influenced  by  the  English  and  the 
Dutch  styles,  of  the  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean 
age.     With  the  settlement  of  Virginia  and 
Maryland  and  the  later  settlements"  in  New 
England,  much  wealth  came  into  America, 
and  the  home  furnishings  were  beautiful. 

In  New  Amsterdam  (prior  to  1674,  when 
the  English  took  control,)  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  wicker  furniture.  East  Indian  cabi- 
nets, ebony  chairs  and  all  that  would  naturally 
come  to  the  East  Indian  trade  which  the 
Dutch  controlled.     While  we  are  inclined 
to  consider  that  the  Colonial  style  developed 
its  best  qualities  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  we  believe  that  the 
most  interesting  period  was  the  latter  part 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  when  the  carved 
and  wainscoted  chests,  Elemish  cane  chairs, 
beautiful  Spanish  pieces, 
heavy  old  oak  cupboards, 
Indian  ware  and  Dutch, 
Italian  and  Spanish  curios 
were  so  generally  used. 
It  was  a  picturesque 
period,  full  of  the  charm 
of  variety.  ^    "Windsor" 


268 


The  Decorative  Periods 


•Wa5h -stand 


Buffet 


We  have  been  asked,  "  How  do  you  maintain  this  position 
when  the  Colonial  museums  and  collections  of  New  England 
show  so  little  of  this  variety  and  so  much  of  the  severely  simple  ?  " 
The  explanation  is,  that  with  the  exception  of  the  seaport 
towns,  the  majority  of  the  New  England  people  were  farmers. 
Moreover,  they  were  a  strictly  English  people.     They  were  Puri- 
tanical.    They  were  not  poor.     On  the  con- 
trary, the  immigration  laws  up  to  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  were  so  strict 
that  no  one  was  permitted  to 
land  who  was  not  financially 
qualified.     If  unable  to  give 
such  proof  they  were  bonded. 
But  there  were  no  railroads  and 
no  means  of  easy  communica- 
tion, and  as  a  rule  only  the 
necessary  furniture  was  taken 
into  the  interior  ;  articles  of 
luxury   stayed  in   the  seaport 
towns.     The  museums  of  New  England  represent  the  gathering 
of  household  effects  from  the  interior. 

None  of  this  Seventeenth  Century  furniture  was  mahogany, 
a  wood  that  did  not  appear  in  England  or  America  until  the 
Eighteenth  Century.  There  are  records  of  mahogany  in  Ameri- 
can inventories  as  early  as  1708. 

From  about  this  period  we  date   the   Colonial  tendencies 
toward   a   better   class   of   furniture   and   furnishings,  for    the 
colonies  had  passed  beyond  the  mere  strug- 
gle  for   existence   and  were  prosperous. 

The  times  have  so  changed 

that  one  is  often  confused 

by  the  terms  sideboard  and 

buffet.      A  buffet  proper 

was  simply  a  section  of  the 

wall  of  a  room,  usually  in  the 

corner  and  furnished  as  a 

Pembroke'NI  china  closet,  and  at  that  time 


.ff*»<''' 


The  I)ec(^rative  Periods  269 

it  was  called  beaufait.  It  was  not  movable  ;  it  was  a  fixed  section 
of  the  room.  To-day  the  term  buffet  is  applied  more  to  the  side- 
board, which  term  was  first  used  in  England  in  1553,  but  at  that 
time  the  sideboard  was  simply  a  table,  with  or  without  drawers, 
sometimes  paneled. 

We  are  frequently  asked  what  kind  of  coverings  should  go 
on  Early  Colonial  floors,  and  there  are  those  who  assert  that  up 
to  1700  the  floors  were  usually  sanded.  This  is  erroneous.  We 
are  told  that  the  "  sand  man  "  went  his  rounds  regularly,  and 
that  the  housewife  sprinkled  the  sand  on  the  floor  and  traced 
patterns  upon  it  with  deft  turns  of  the  broom  ;  but  as  up  to  1745 
"  the  walls  of  these  rooms  were  usually  whitewashed,"  we  conclude 
that  the  writer's  research  was  confined  to  the  poorer  classes.  In 
the  country  cottages  and  in  many  parts  of  Pennsylvania  this 
custom  for  the  lower  floors  of  houses  prevailed  among  the  poorer 
people,  and  in  the  kitchen  of  the  better  classes  it  was  frequently 
seen,  but  it  was  not  a  representative  form  of  floor  treatment. 

The  Italian  Renaissance,  introduced  into  England  by  Inigo 
Jones,  w^ho  died  in  1652,  influenced  the  architecture  of  every 
early  American  village. 

John  Eiske,  the  eminent  historian,  says,  in  his  "Beginnings 
of  New  England:"  "The  Puritan  exodus  to  New  England, 
which  came  to  an  end  about  1640,  was  purely  English.  Like  the 
best  part  of  the  emigration  to  Virginia,  it  consisted  largely  of 
country  squires,  thrifty  and  prosperous.  .  .  .  The  best  part 
of  the  New  England  emigration  consisted  of  people  prosperous 
in  their  old  homes,  from  which  their  devotion  to  an  idea  (reli- 
gious) made  them  voluntary  exiles." 

Again  quoting  from  this  authority:  "Up  to  1688  there 
were  26,000  New  Englanders,  and  from  this  number,  in  the  fol- 
lowing one-hundred-and-fifty  years,  there  have  descended  at  least 
one-quarter  of  the  present  population  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  laws  of  the  early  colonies  were  discouraging  to  the  poor 
people,  who  went  to  the  Barbadoes,  Honduras  or  elsewhere. 
Even  as  late  as  1714  the  emigration  laws  of  the  New  England 
colonies  were  strictly  enforced,  forbidding  one  to  enter  who  was 
unable  to  furnish  proof  of  financial  responsibility.     During  the 


270  The  Decorative  Periods 

fifty  years  preceding  the  American  Revolution  there  was  much 
wealth  in  the  colonies,  measured  by  the  standard  of  wealth  in 
those  days.  A  fashionable  social  life  centred  about  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Crown,  and  the  pride  of  the  wealthy  found  ex- 
pression in  handsomely  decorat-id  homes.  In  Maryland  and 
Virginia,  where  the  High  Church  of  England  and  the  Catholics 
settled,  there  was  an  aristocratic  tendency,  the  happy  combina- 
tion of  climate  and  agricultural  facilities  enabling  the  people  to 
support  a  generous  style  of  living  as  landed  gentry." 

As  early  as  1674  there  were  fourteen  burghers  in  New  York 
whose  estates  were  valued  at  more  than  1,000  guilders  each. 
There  were  twenty-two  residents  whose  estates  were  valued  at 
close  on  to  io,oco  guilders  each ;  and  Cornelius  Van  Ruyven 
was  said  to  be  worth  18,000;  Jeroninus  Ebbing,  30,000;  John 
Lawrence,  40,000;  Olaf  Van  Cortlandt,  45,000;  Nicholas  de 
Meyer,  50,000;  Cornells  Steenwyck,  50,000;  and  Hendrick 
Philipsen,  80,000 — great  wealth  for  those  days.  One  hundred 
years  afterwards,  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  this  wealth  in 
New  York,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  was  greatly  increased,  a  fact 
made  obvious  when  you  consider  that  it  was  from  private  sources 
that  most  of  the  money  was  obtained  which  sustained  the  eight 
years'  war  against  England.  We  had  no  overflowing  treasury, 
and  it  was  from  private  individual  purses  that  the  country  had 
its  war  chest  refilled. 

Nothing  more  stately  can  be  imagined  than  the  Chase  House, 
the  Harwood  House,  the  Hammond  or  the  Lockerman  House, 
the  Bryce-Jennings  House,  and  Salem,  Providence,  Bristol, 
Annapolis  and  Middletown  are  full  of  historic  interest.  Indeed, 
we  look  to  the  smaller  cities  for  these  delightful  examples  which 
have  disappeared  before  the  ruthless  commercial  spirit  of  New 
York  and  Boston,  which  seem  only  to  have  preserved  the  Han- 
cock House  and  the  Jumel  Mansion.  Much  has  been  written 
about  Mt.  Vernon  ;  but  Washington's  old  home  was  insignifi- 
cant when  compared  with  Lower  Brandon  and  Upper  Brandon, 
the  home  of  the  Harrisons,  or  Westover,  the  home  of  the  Byrds. 
An  old  document  tells  us  that  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrolton,  Md., 
had   an  income  estimated  at  $75,000  a   year,  and   his  home. 


p------ 


.-^-.H--- 


u — 


K. 


Doughoregan  Manor,  was  one  of  a  number  of  delightful  places 
in  Maryland.  Hampton,  the  old  Ridgely  homestead,  was  another, 
and  Jerome  Bonaparte  and  his  bride,  Betsey  Patterson,  had  a 
delightful  place  called  the  Homestead,  furnished  in  regal  style. 
Then  there  was  Colonel  Howard's  residence,  the  Chew  Mansion, 
the  Vining  House,  Belmont  Hall,  in  Smyrna,  Del  ,  and  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Ridgleys,  whose  royal  grant  in  1659  gave  them 
6,000  acres  in  Maryland  ;  and  even  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  there 
were  at  least  fifteen  houses  which  were  models  of  good  taste 
architecturally,  including  Langdon's  home — the  same  Langdon 
who  fitted  out  Stark's  Brigade  that  helped  to  win  the  first  deci- 
sive victory  for  America  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  home 
of  the  W'entworths,  also,  and  hundreds  of  other  old  residences, 
which  are  fully  treated  in  other  publications,  especially  those  on 
Colonial  architecture,  give  evidence  of  the  good  taste  and  the 
wealth  enjoyed  by  a  large  class  of  the  early  settlers. 

During  the  time  of  William  and  Mary  and  Queen  Anne  the 
close  political  and  commercial  relations  between  England  and 
Holland  developed  a  strong  Dutch  influence,  and  at  the  same 
time  British  rule  in  India  stimulated  a  great  demand  for  India 
goods,  so  that  we  have,  during  the  Queen  Anne  Period 
in  America,  a  preponderance  of  Dutch  and  India 
styles. 

In  1714,  at  thebeginning  of  the  Georgian  Period, 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  and  Grinling  Gibbons  took 
up  the  Renaissance  movement  in  architecture  ;  but 
it  was  not  until  1760,  under  George  III,  that  we 
notice  any  pronounced  change  in  'nterior  decorations. 
Then  began  the  work  of  Chippendale,  who  departed        Knrff  Box 


272 


The  Decorative  Periods 


from  the  Dutch  styles  and  introduced  French  and 
Chinese  details.     Sir  William  Chambers  published 
a  book  on  Chinese  style  which,  with  Chippendale's 
work,  created  a  rage  for  Chinese  decorations.     The 
Louis  XV  Period,  then  in  vogue  in  France,  was 
liberally  adopted  in  England  in  conjunction  with 
the  Chinese,  and  later,  Robert  Adam  was  appointed 
architect  to  George  III  and  introduced  a  type  of 
design  which  was  influenced  by  Italian  education 
and  a  study  of  the  restoration  of  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii.     Sheraton  and  Hepplewhite  in  their 
furniture  showed  a  similar  influence,  and,  contem- 
poraneously 
in  France, 
David,  af- 
fected by 
thisinfluence, 
was  develop- 
ing the  Direc- 
toire,  the 
Transition, 
and  finally 
the  Empire 
style.     So 
that  in  1800 
in  America 
the  Empire 
style,  contem- 
poraneous 
with  Presi- 
dent Jeffer- 
son's regime, 

directly 
affected  the 
English  and 

/imerican       chippendale  influenced  by  French 
tastes,  and  feeling 


The  Decorative  Periods 


-v.s 


wherever  this  form  appeared  in  the  United  States  it  was  given 
the  term  Late  Colonial,  a  misnomer,  for  the  States  were  no  longer 
Colonies. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  historical  epitome  which  may  be 
divided  into  four  divisions— from  Elizabeth  to  Oueen  Anne,  iGoo 
to  1700,  showing  Elizabethan,  Jacobean  and  Cromwellian  influ- 
ences;  from  Oueen  Anne  to  George  III,  1700  to  1760,  showing 
the  Dutch  influence  ;  the  George  III  Period,  1760  to  1800,  show- 
ing the  Classic  revival  and  the  introduction  of  the  Erench  and 
Chinese  character  in  design,  and  the  concluding  years  of  George 
III  to  1820,  showing  that  type  known  as  the  English  ICmpire. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  charming  than  the 
old  rush-bottom,  tufted-back  wing  chairs  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century.  The  larger  cities  and  towns  of  this  country  were 
well  equipped  with  cabinet-makers  at  the  time  more  famous  than 
even  Chippendale,  who,  until  the  appearance  of  his  books,  seems 
to  have  been  little  known.  In  fact,  his  biographer  in  the  ex- 
haustive Dictionary  of  National  Biography  can  find  little  to  say 
of  him  except  that  he  flourished  about  1760.  He  certainly  was 
not  the  only  successful  member  of  his  craft  in  London,  if  we 
may  believe  the  following  advertisement,  which  appeared  in  a 
New  York  paper  in  1771  : 


To  morrow  will  be  sold  at  public  vendue 

a  set  of  carved  mahogany  chairs 

The  chairs  were  made  by  a  person  in  the  Jerseys  who 
served  his  time  and  afterwards  was  eleven  years  foreman 
to  the  great  and  eminent  cabinetmaker  William  Hallet, 
who  bought  the  fine  estate  of  the  Duke  of  Shandos, 
called  Cannon's  in  Middlesex. 


Now,  even  if  the  advertisement  was  a  catch-penny  scheme, 
it  is  plain  that  in  1771  the  name  of  Hallet  was  considered  a  great 
bait  in  New  York.  It  is  furthermore  worth  noting  that  we  have 
never  seen  in  an  American  paper  prior  to  the  Revolution  any 
mention  of  the  name  of  Chippendale. 


®^* 


In  creating  a  Colonial  atmosphere — be  it  early  Colonial,  and 
necessarily  embryotic,  or  late  Colonial — we  may  assume  that  the 
room  trims,  as  a  rule,  are  white.  In  the  early  days  the  dwellings 
were  low-ceilinged,  the  windows  were  small  and  cut  into  little 
panes.  Such  a  room  was  not  well  lighted,  and  the  white  wood- 
work helped  illuminate  it. 

In  Canterbury  Tales  (1400)  Chaucer  mentions  wicker  chairs  ; 
but  it  may  be  taken  as  a  rule  that  up  to  the  end  of  Henry  VIII's 
reign  (1547)  furniture  was  usually  oak.  After  oak  came  walnut 
furniture,  often  thin  veneered.  In  the  time  of  Charles  II 
(1649),  beautiful  inlay  work  was  accomplished.  Mahogany  fur- 
niture came  into  us,^  in  1700,  and  Chippendale  was  one  of  the 
first  cabinet-makers  to  use  it.  Sheraton  introduced  inlaying  of 
mahogany,  stained  wood,  king  wood  and  tulip  wood.  Hepple- 
white  did  considerable  in  painted  furniture.  Over-doors,  over- 
windows  and  over-mantels  were  treated  with  leaded  glass  and 
fret  work,  especially  during  the  Eighteenth  Century.  The  walls 
were  wainscoted  or  paneled,  where  they  followed  the  Eliza- 
bethan and  Jacobean  style,  or  they  were  hung  in 
tapestries  or  painted ;  often  leather  was  used  as  a 
wainscoting,  but  as  a  rule  a  gray  tone  of  paint  was 
employed,  upon  which  pictures, 
mirrors  and  girandoles  were  hung. 
Wall-paper  was  not  generally  intro- 
duced until  1748,  the  late  Colonial 
period,  and  although  Oriental  rugs 
were  frequently  used,  being  imported 

by  the  Dutch  and  English  from 
India,  they  did  not  become  common 


Omdie 


The  Decorative  Periods 


V? 


as  floor  coverings  until  1750.  Mahogany  trims  fur  banisters,  man- 
tels, cornices  and  furniture  were  not  generally  introduced  until 
1750.  To  be  sure,  mahogany  was  discovered  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  in  1597,  and  we  have  records  in  this  country,  among  the 
old  inventories  of  our  forefathers,  of  mahogany  furniture,  1708  ; 
but  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  prior  to  1700  furniture  and  wood  trims 
were  of  oak,  sycamore,  pine,  spruce,  walnut,  maple  and  other 
native  woods.  Wall-hangings  of  India  prints  were  very  common. 
Oriental  furniture,  brasses,  Chinese  porcelain,  prints  and  copper 
ornaments  were  generally  used  throughout  the  entire  Colonial 
period.  In  the  earliest  times  they  were  brought  over  by  the 
Dutch  in  great  quantities,  and  a  rage  for  Chinese  porcelains  pre- 
vailed during  Queen  Anne's  time,  and  later,  in  the  George  III 
period.  Thus,  in  place  of  the  Colonial  style  being  restricted  to 
rag  carpets,  horse  hair  and  mahogany,  it  was  of  a  cosmopolitan 
character,  full  of  variety. 

In  1749  Isaac  Ware  wrote:  "The  decoration  of  an  Amer- 
ican room  is  of  three  kinds.  First,  where  it  is  coated  with  a 
plastic  material  wrought  into  ornamental  details;  second,  \Hiere 
covered  by  wainscote,  and  third,  where  hung  with  silks,  tapes- 
tries or  paper." 

In  that  year  Stephen  Callo  advertised  that  he  would  hang 
rooms  with  paper  or  stuff  in  the  newest  fashion.  In  1756  John 
Hickey  was  advertising  that  he  "stamps  or  prints  paper  in  a 
manner  so  that  it  will  harbor  no  worms."  As  early  as  1745 
Charles  Hargraves  was  advertising  wall-papers  in  Philadelphia. 
Indeed,  a  few  years  later,  Peter  Fleeson  was  making  paper- 
hangings,  corner  of  P'ourth  and  Chestnut  Streets,  and  the  sub- 
jects were  landscape  views,  Watteau  figures  and  large  rococo- 
Tramed  patterns  of  the  Louis  XV  period.  Paper  made  in  the 
roll  did  not  appear  in  this  country  until  about  1790.  Prior  to 
this  the  paper  was  brought  over  in  squares.  Old  Nantucket  is 
rich  in  specimens  of  old  wall  decorations,  positive  works  of  art 
representing  the  labor  of  some  of  the  best  designers  of  the 
period.  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  boasts  of  a  number  of  fine  old 
papers.  Some  of  the  old  homesteads  in  St.  Johnsbury,  V't.,  are 
treated  in  these  early  papers.     In  one  is  a  scene  representing  a 


276  The  Decorative  Periods 

group  of  women  at  a  table  enjoying  their  tea,  while  above  them, 
in  the  distance,  Mt.  Vesuvius  pours  forth  a  volume  of  smoke. 

Horsehair  covers,  where  used,  were  employed  to  tone  down 
the  general  brilliancy  of  the  accessory  furnishings.  Plain  fabrics 
were  much  used,  but  frequently  they  were  embroidered,  for  gen- 
tlewomen regarded  needlework  as  a  necessary  accomplishment. 

Some  idea  of  the  elaborateness  of  the  furnishings  may  be 
had  from  the  following  letter  written  in  1757  by  Thomas  Han- 
cock to  John  Rowe,  of  London  : 

Enclosed  you  have  the  dimensions  of  a  room  for  a  shaded  wall-hanging 
to  be  done  after  the  pattern  I  have  sent  to  Capt.  Tanner.  It  is  for  my  own 
house,  and  if  you  can  make  it  more  beautiful  by  adding  some  birds  flying 
here  and  there,  and  some  landscapes  at  the  bottom,  I  should  hke  it  very 
well.  At  the  top  and  bottom  of  this  paper  there  ought  to  be  a  narrow  bor- 
der, two  inches  wide.  Three  years  ago  my  friend  Francis  Wilks  bought  a 
hanging  done  in  the  same  manner,  but  it  was  much  handsomer.  It  was 
made  by  one  Dunbar,  Aldermandury,  where,  no  doubt,  he  or  some  of  his 
successors,  may  be  found.  In  other  parts  of  these  hangings  are  a  great 
variety  of  different  sorts  of  birds,  peacocks,  macoys,  squirrels,  monkej'S, 
fruits,  flowers,  etc.  I  think  these  papers  are  handsomer  and  better  than 
painted  walls  in  oil. 

The  fabric  furnishing  of  the  Colonial  times  may  be  easily 
grouped  if  one  only  remembers  that  weaving,  prior  to  Jacquard's 
invention,  which  came  into  use  in  England  about  1790,  was 
necessarily  confined  to  simple  figures ;  to  be  sure,  the  famous 
tapestry  weavers  achieved  results  in  large  figures,  but  the  masters 
of  the  art  of  tapestry  weaving  were  few,  and  their  work  was 
limited. 

Stripes,  blocks,  squares,  diagonals,  and  variations  of  velvet, 
serge  and  plain  weaves,  were  in  general  vogue,  and  variety  was 
obtained  by  the  texture  of  the  yarn  used  and  by  hand  embroid- 
eries subsequently  employed.  In  woven  stuffs  the  figures,  as  a 
rule,  were  simple  and  small,  and  inasmuch  as  in  the  mahogany 
days  the  furniture  all  showed  a  high  surface  finish,  it  was  desir- 
able to  show  relief  in  the  fabrics,  hence  they  were  almost  invari- 
ably dull  and  lustreless ;  large  figures,  however,  were  much 
appreciated,  and  as  they  were  not  obtainable  in  woven  goods, 
they  were  printed  in  cottons,  English,  Chinese  or  Indian. 


The  Decorative  Periods  277 

The  nomenclature  of  Early  Colonial  fabrics  was  simply 
endless. 

In  East  Indian  stuffs  alone  \vc  have  a  list  of  forty  terms. 

In  1759  "  flowered  damask  for  furniture  "  was  imported. 

In  1760  "  crimson,  blue,  green  and  yellow  harratet-ns  with  tassels  "  were 
imported. 

1762,  Indian  gimp  and  binding. 

176S,  fine  striped  lutestring  (plain  silk)  Marseilles  quilts. 

1770,  moreens,  stout  woolen  curtain  stuffs. 

Harratcen  cloth  was  made  of  combing  wools. 

Printed  cotton,  handprinted,  frequently  of  very  large  bird  and  animal 
designs. 

Scarlet  and  crimson  cassimere,  calico  and  dimity. 

Durance,  a  stout  worsted  cloth. 

Calamanco,  a  glazed  linen  stuff. 

Turkey  work,  a  coarse,  plain  ground  with  pattern  tufted  like  a  rug  pile. 

Paduasoy,  a  strong  silk. 

Green  cloth,  crimson  worsted,  red  cloth,  red  damask. 

Shalloon,  soy,  watchet,  linsey  woolsey,  fustian. 

Silk  muslin,  chintz,  Indian  calico,  tabby,  sarcanet,  taffeta,  horsehair. 

Camak.or  Comacoa,  was  silk  and  camel's  hair  mixed. 

Bancours,  a  kind  of  tapestry. 

Shalloon  was  a  coarse  woolen  cloth. 

Darnix  or  darneck,  coarse,  taking  its  name  from  Dorncck.  the  Dutch 
for  Tournay. 

Damask,  first  made  in  Damascus  in  such  a  way  that  "  what  is  not  satin 
on  one  side  shows  satin  on  the  other  side." 

Perpetuana  (1650),  a  very  durable  woolen. 

Green  and  red  paly  is  the  heraldic  term  for  alternate  stripes  of  these 
colors. 

Camblet  was  a  woolen,  hair  or  silk  twill,  sometimes  waved  or  watered. 

Tabby,  a  kind  of  coarse  watered  taffeta. 

Seersucker,  a  thin  ridged  and  puckered  material. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  the  Georgian  style  had 
fully  developed,  and  the  Colonial  had  adopted  much  of  the 
Georgian  character.  Rich  furniture  was  much  in  use,  and  so 
great  was  the  display  that  John  Adams,  who  was  always  opposed 
to  ostentation,  wrote  :  "John  Lowell  at  Newburyport  had  built 
himself  a  house  like  the  palace  of  a  nobleman  and  lived  in  great 
splendor."  In  the  South,  the  centres  of  fashion  were  Annapolis, 
Williamsburg  and  Charlestown.  The  presence  of  monied  Eng- 
lishmen and  officers,  with  their  retinue  of  servants  and  their 


X 


ADAM  AND  SHERATON  CHARAGTERISTICS.      TABLE  TOPS 


The  Decorativ^e  Periods 


2/9 


families,  brought  fashion  and  gaiety  and  rich  and  costly  furnish- 
ings to  America. 

To-day  the  revival  of  the  early  or  late  Colonial  style  must 
be  taken  with  that  revision  which  always  accompanies  a  Renais- 
sance movement.  The  modern  home  is  so  differently  constructed 
that  we  cannot  pretend  to  follow  the  old  models,  v.'hen  parlor, 
bedroom  and  dining-room  were  frequently  one  of  the  same  apart- 
ment. Between  1600  and  1650  a  parlor  was  defined  as  a  room 
to  sup  or  dine  in,  and  at  this  period  "The  Hall  "  was  the  prin- 
cipal room  of  a  house,  and  here  was  the  guest's  bed,  the  huge 
fireplace  and  the  dining-table.  Until  about  1G50  the  hall  was  the 
showroom,  and  old  inventories  continually  refer  to  this  room  and 
its  furnishings  to  indicate  its  character  as  above  defined. 

Beginning  with  1650  the  Colonists  built  separate  rooms,  and 
the  hall  gradually  became,  as  it  is  to-day,  an  entrance  room 
merely. 


— ^■^..  -.T. — : ^^  ' 


^      / 


■^rrYrfm^fnTTTTTfrT  rTTnrrn  n 


Here  is  shown  a  style  of  the  French  Transition  period,  dated  1800. 
It  is  from  tlilfe  type  that  much  of  the  furniture  called  late  Colonial 
is  copied,     i^nierican  date  o£  manufacture,  about  1S15. 


ART   NOUVEAlT 
EXAMPLE  AT  ST    LOUIS  EXPOSITION,  FRENCH  SECTION 


:)^^ 


Louis  XVI  liaumgarten  tapestry.  Made  at  the  workshops  of  William 
Baumcarten,  who,  in  1893,  established,  at  Williamsbndge,  N.  \  .,  the  first 
looms  ever  erected  in  America  to  produce  tapestries,  under  ^he  supervision 
of  Foussadier,  who  left  the  Gobelin  Works  in  France  during  the  Commune 
and  started  soon  after  with  Brignola.  under  the  patronage  of  Fnncess 
Beatrice,  the  Windsor  Tapestry  Works  in  England. 


THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY 

IN  TMK  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  England  was  in- 
rtuenced  by  the  Empire  spirit  in  decoration  as  exemplified 
by  the  work  of  Thomas  Hope.  In  this  country  a  similar  tenden- 
cy had  vogue,  especially  during  Jefferson's  regime,  and  was 
stimulated  by  the  work  of  Latrobe,  decorator  and  architect,  who 
in  1803  was  appointed  by  Jefferson  surveyor  of  public  buildings 
in  Washington,  and  whose  taste  prevailed  in  the  plans  and  deco- 
rations of  the  capitol. 

Latrobe  followed  the  classic  character  of  the  Empire  school, 
eliminating  the  personal  element  interpolated  by  David  to  glorify 
Napoleon — Egyptian  and  Roman  symbolisms  of  victory  and 
conquest.  The  Latrobe  decorations  characterized  a  style  popu- 
lar in  this  country  early  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  and  termed 
by  some  the  Jeffersonian. 

The  antique  shops  have  been  full  of  the  furniture  of  this 
period  erroneously  termed  Colonial.  The  illustration  is  a  fair 
type,  date  1820. 

As  the  taste  for  the  semi-classic  declined,  efforts  were  made 


,      ^ri^^  :»' 


292  The  Decorative  Periods 

to  arouse  interest  in  other  directions.  Conspicuous  was  the 
Eastlake  craze,  which  seems  to  have  taken  its  inspiration  from 
the  Jacobean.  Eastlake  boasted  his  contempt  of  festoons  and 
fringes  and  fabric  decorations,  and  preached  simplicity.  As  a 
consequence,  his  ornamentation  was  superficial  and  half-hearted 
and  worse  than  useless,  a  nightmare  of  abnormal  and  abortive 
work  full  of  Greek  diaper  patterns  and  tiles  inlaid  in  brass  and 
wood.     The  work  left  no  lasting  impression. 

On  the  contrary,  Morris,  Burne-Jones,  Ruskin  and  Rosetti 
constituted  a  pre-Raphaelite  band  which  hied  back  to  the  Me- 
diaeval. Saturated  with  the  spirit  of  the  Guild  work  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  their  labors  were  naturally  along  the  old  Guild  forms 
The  woodwork  was  primitive  ;  the  fabrics  and  wall-papers  showed 
a  delightful  balance  of  tropical  floral  motifs  following  the  Sara- 
cenic Influence  in  Italy.  They  and  their  followers,  Walter  Crane, 
Voysey  and  later-day  contemporaries,  continued  the  craftsman 
theories  of  labor,  and  out  of  the  efforts  of  these  men  have  sprung 
innumerable  Arts  and  Crafts  societies  primarily  to  follow  the 
Guild  or  Crafts  work  of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  distinguished  from 
the  factory  or  organization  work  which  stultifies  individual 
effort. 

In  this  country  the  Arts  and  Crafts  societies  appealed  to  a 
great  number  of  free  lance  decorators  who  had  little  knowledge 
of  period  decoration,  but  who  possessed  the  faculty  of  good 
color  application.  Discouraged  by  the  exactions  of  strict  period 
work,  they  found  in  the  unclassified  Arts  and  Crafts  or  Mission 
styles  an  opportunity  to  indulge  their  ideas  unfettered.  The 
lines  and  dark  tones  of  the  primitive  furniture  and  wood  trims 
formed  a  contrasting  framework  to  color  or  design  composition 
of  Mediaeval,  Gothic,  Dutch  or  Japanese  character. 


The  Art  Nouveau  dates  its  origin  from  1878,  when  a  body 
of  enthusiastic  architects  in  Vienna,  led  by  the  architect  Wagner, 
produced  a  style  of  design  arising  from  the  use  of  natural  floral 
forms. 

Opposed  directly  to  straight  lines,  Art  Nouveau  developed 


The  Decorative  Periods 


293 


a  series  of  perplexing  and  confusing  spirals  and  corkscrew  term- 
inals. 

The  underlying  principle  was  based  upon  nature  forms,  and 
eventually  introduced  designs  which  suggested  the  (lothic  as 
well  as  Japanese  curved  and  sinuous  tree  trunks  and  vines 
idealized,  elongated  and  exaggerated. 


Notwithstanding  the  hysterical  craze  for  ephemeral  art,  the 
strict  period  designs  were  never  more  popular  than  now. 

America  has  been  prolific,  and  we  feel  a  sense  of  pride  in 


l.\     E.V.^TLAKK 


294 


The  Decorative  Periods 


the  work  of  Abbey,  Blashfield,  Blum,  Kenyon  Cox,  Tiffany, 
Vedder,  Sargent,  La  Farge,  Reed  and  Simmons. 

Nothing  demonstrates  more  clearly  the  public  demand  for 
the  best  decoration  than  the  work  being  done  every  day  in 
municipal  buildings  and  hotels,  structures  which  emphasize 
public  sentiment. 

To-day  our  decorators  are  reflecting  simply  the  works  of  the 
past  masters.  No  religious  fanaticism  awakens  our  artists  to  fresh 
inspiration.  No  royal  edict  proclaims  the  advent  of  a  Renais- 
sance. Our  mathematics  are  prosaic  ;  there  is  nothing  new  in 
them  to  point  the  beauty  of  mechanical  draughtsmanship.  No 
vast  surprises  are  brought  to  us  by  the  traders  in  distant  lands. 
The  world  is  living  elbow  to  elbow.  There  is  nothing  new  in  the 
new  world,  and  to-day  we  are  searching  with  ceaseless  diligence 
the  remote  possibilities  of  art  in  the  far  back  ages,  and  the  best 
results  are  the  work  of  the  man  who  appreciates  the  best  that 
has  come  to  us  through  five  thousand  years  of  civilization,  and  is 
willing  to  adopt  the  art  principles  which  have  lasted  popular 
through  the  ages. 


'in 


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r^ 


WHITE    HOUSE    DECORATIONS,  TIME   OF   JEFFERSON 


'♦^♦^•*-X*^-»A' 


THE  PERIOD  USE  OF  WOODS 


The  Age  of  Oak,  1500-1660. 
The  Age  of  Walnut,  1660-1700. 


The  Age  of  Mahogany,  1730. 
The  Composite  Age,  1700-1820. 


WHEN  we  see  one  of  the  most  famous  houses  in  New  York  City 
with  a  Francis  I  room  wainscoted  in  "antique  mahog- 
any," and  the  furniture  and  furnishings  "antique  mahogany," 
it  is  time  to  cry  out  against  the  ignorance  which  prevails  in 
matters  essential  to  the  consistent  presentation  of  a  period  style. 

What  matters  it  if  fine  tapestries  and  the  finest  cabinetwork 
and  the  most  exquisite  design  treatment  is  undertaken,  when  so 
glaring  an  anachronism  confronts  us  as  the  use  of  rtw/z^z/t- mahog- 
any in  France  in  15 15,  two  hundred  years  previous  to  its  general 
use  and  eighty-two  years  before  its  discovery  by  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  ? 

Mahogany,  discovered  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  the  West 
Indies  in  1597,  was  used  in  England  about  1700.  Mahogany 
was  utilized  in  Europe  very  rarely.  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Dutch 
and  Italian  traders  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  did  not  traffic  in 
lumber,  excepting  in  rare  woods  for  rare  purposes.  Occa- 
sionally small  and  very  costly  pieces  were  done  in  mahogany 
during  the  Seventeenth  Century. 

There  are  records  in  England  of  mahogany  pieces  made  as 
early  as  1700.  We  have  records  in  this  country  of  mahogany 
furniture  mentioned  in  inventories  filed  1708.  Queen  Anne 
furniture  was  seldom  mahogany.  It  was  a  wood  that  came  in 
during  the  Georgian  period. 

GOTHIC    AND    RENAISSANCE,    IIOO-165O. 

Oak,  wax  polished  or  oiled  or  left  natural.     Varnish  was  not 


The  Decorative  Periods  297 

used  until  the  middle  of  the  Sixteenth  Century.     As  simplicity 
began  to  disappear  a  deep  color  stain  was  applied. 

IT.\L1AN    KKNAISSANCE,   I4OO-I643. 

Oak,  lime,  willow,  sycamore,  chestnut,  ebony,  walnut   and 
cypress  were  all  used. 

FRENCH,    FLEMISH    AND    SPANISH    RENAISSANCE,    I5OO-1643. 

Oak,  chestnut  and  walnut  were  the  favorite  woods. 

LdL'is  XIII,  1610-1643. 

Woodwork  oak,  walnut,  chestnut,  sometimes  ebony.  The 
Dutch  were  bringing  great  quantities  of  new  woods  from  the  Far 
East,  including  rosewood,  and  the  Spaniards  were  also  intro- 
ducing beautiful  woods  from  South  America  and  the  West 
Indies.  Mahogany,  however,  was  scarcely  known,  and  was  not 
used  in  France  until  a  century  later. 

LOUIS  xiv,  1645-1715. 

The  furniture  was  made  of  every  kind  of  wood  obtainable 
at  this  period — violet  wood,  cherry  and  cheaper  woods  enameled 
and  gilded. 

LOUIS  XV,  171 5-1774. 
Every  kind  of  wood  was  used,  including  mahogany. 

LOUIS  XVI,  1774-1793- 
The  woodwork  was  of  ten  oak,  painted  white.     Cabinets  and 
tables  were  inlaid  with  woods  of  various  colors  ;  tulip,  rose,  pear, 
holly,  walnut  and  ebony  were  all  in  use,  and  bright  colors  wer||p 
obtained  by  chemical  treatment. 

KMiMKE,  1804-1814. 

The  framework  of  chairs  was  generally  mahogany,  or  painted 
and  bronzed  and  gilded  woods. 


298  The  Decorative  Periods 

ELIZABETHAN  AND  JACOBEAN,   I558-1649. 

Furniture  oak,  cherry  and  cypress.  Sometimes  the  wood 
was  painted,  sometimes  gilt  designed.  Pearwood  was  used, 
stained  black.  Mahogany  almost  unknown.  Towards  the  end 
of  the  Seventeenth  Century  a  great  deal  of  ebony  was  imported, 
and  carved  ebony  from  India  found  its  way  into  many  rich 
English  homes. 

The  middle  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  marked  the  age  of 
walnut.  Walnut  was  imported  from  Persia  into  Italy  about  the 
date  of  the  Christian  Era,  but  the  first  distinct  notice  of  its 
cultivation  in  England  was  1562.  Throughout  Italy,  France  and 
Spain  walnut  was  used  freely  during  the  Sixteenth  and  Seven- 
teenth Centuries,  but,  owing  to  its  scarcity  in  England,  it  was 
introduced  in  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  times  only  as  a  deco- 
ration in  conjunction  with  oak.  The  age  of  walnut  lasted  in 
England  until  about  the  end  of  the  Seventeenth  Century,  when 
the  English  welcomed  the  new  substitute  provided  in  mahogany. 

QUEEN  ANNE,   166O-I714. 

There  was  a  great  scarcity  of  walnut  in  the  Jacobean  age. 
During  the  period  of  Queen  Anne  walnut,  beech,  holly,  birch, 
yew  wood  and  marqueterie  were  common.  Walnut  was  generally 
used  in  fine  furniture,  and  the  mahogany  pieces  frequently 
attributed  to  the  Queen  Anne  period  are  almost  universally  of 
the  times  of  George  I  or  II. 

During  the  Queen  Anne  period  walnut  was  often  black, 
lacquered  and  decorated  Oriental-like. 

AMERICAN  COLONIAL,  162O-182O. 

In  America  the  abundant  woods  —  oak,  ash,  elm,  walnut, 
maple,  cherry  and  pine  —  supplied  all  that  was  required  in  the 
construction  of  American-made  furniture  during  the  early 
Colonial  times,  and  the  earliest  reference  to  American  mahogany 
furniture  is  1708.  Maple  was  much  used  up  to  1780.  A  great 
deal  of  imported  furniture  was  used. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Tn  the  preparation  of  this  work  the  author  is  indebted  to — 
^       His  previous  work,  "  Period  Decoration." 

Professor  Paul  Schulze,  Director  of  the  Royal  Textile  Mu- 
seum, at  Crefeld,  for  a  number  of  Saracenic  and  Persian  illus- 
trations. 

Yale  and  Towne,  for  the  design  of  Egyptian  feather  and 
lotus  motifs. 

"  Der  Ornamentsil,"  by  Alexander  Speltz 

"A  Manual  of  Historic  Ornament,"  by  Glazier. 

The  Century  Company,  publishers  of  "  With  the  Empress 
Dowager." 

"  Dictionnaire  du  Tapissier,"  by  Deville. 

"The  Illustrated  History  of  P'urniture,"  published  by  John 
Lane. 

The  late  A.  C.  Nye,  for  Colonial  P'urniture  Sketches. 

"Meyer's  Handbook  of  Ornament." 

Strange's  "PVench  Furniture." 


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CONTENTS 


Acanthus 

9,  122,  177 

Borgognonc 

'3',  '32,303 

Adam,  lo,  124,  175,  203 

211,235,244 

Borkmair 

•      124, '57 

250,257,261,265,272 

278,280,303 

Botticelli 

•      '32,303 

Alexandria 

.     116 

Boucher 

196,204 

Alhambra 

52,149,301 

Boule 

181, 304 

America   . 

12 

Brahma    . 

•     300 

American  Colonial 

•     303 

Brunelleschi 

'3',  '32,303 

American  Revolution, 

270,  273,  277 

Brussels 

•     '51 

Animal  Form  . 

23, 121,  172 

Buddhist  Rel 

igion,     2 

7.  35-  50,  300 

Anne,  Queen,  12,38  39 

160,  169,214 

Bull 

9 

215,  21S, 219, 222, 223 

233.235.241 

Buonarroti 

•      '32,303 

264,  271,  275,  302 

Burne-Jones 

10, 

109,292,303 

Anthcmion       .        .  2 

,55. '77,  183 

Byzantine-B} 

zantium. 

10, 12, 14,  28 

Antioch 

.     116 

62,  83,  107, 

"4, 

"5, 

116,  128,  300 

Antwerp 

•      235,263 

Arabesque 

.      149,175 

Caffieri 

•.      •    304 
.*»    .    246 

Arabian    .                   43 

,-17,  115. 301 

Cameo  Panel 

s 

Arabian  Medi.vval 

.       85 

Candelabra 

.     121 

Arched  Panels 

•     173 

Carlos  I 

•      '33, '49 

Armorial 

.     116 

Carryatides 

•     257 

Arras 

•     '53 

Carter 

•     233 

Arts  and  Crafts 

107, 1 14,  292 

Cartouche 

1 15,  1 19,  205 

Art  Nouveau  .         10, 

286,  292,  304 

Cascades 

.     1 96 

Assyrian,  12,  15,  21,  22, 

23,25,49,63 

Catacombs 

•       23 

123,300 

Catharine  de  Medici 

.     148 

Austrian 

.     151 

Cellini      . 

. 

•      '32,303 

Celtic 

33 

,61,301,302 

Babel,  P.  E.    . 

•     304 

Centaurs 

.     122 

Babylonian 

I 

5,  16,21,300 

Chaldea    . 

50,  300 

Bacon 

.     169 

Chambers, 

236, 

242, 

257,265,303 

Baroque 

•      205,304 

Charles  I 

169, 

264, 266,  302 

Barozzio 

•     '32 

Charles  1 1 

169, 

215,263,274 

Bartolozzi 

•     257 

Charles  \' 

•      '53. 303 

Baskets 

•      '25,177 

Charles  IX 

148,304 

Beauvais 

182,  196,  304 

Cherries    . 

•     '97 

Beetle 

9.  '2 

Chinese,  9, 12. 

27-3 

5.63, 

191,212,236 

Beetle,  Dung 

•          23 

239.241,246 

2''5. 

275- 

300 

Berain 

•       304 

Chintz       . 

•     173 

Bicdermeier 

•       301 

Chippendale. 

9. 

5'.^ 

12,  223,236 

Birds 

.       116 

241,  263,  271 

280 

,303 

3o6 


Contents 


255 
205 

241 


Christian  Roman.  62.  300  ;  Symbol- 
ism, 12,  107  ;  Tree  of  Life,  63 
Christianity      .         .         62,137,300 
Churrigueresque      .        .        .     150 
Cipriani  .        239,257,265,303 

Circles 175 

Classic,  Classical,  Classicism,     57 

115,  121,  133,  184,  258,  266 
Classic  Colonial 
Classic  Renaissance 
Classic  Revival,     107,  177,  233. 
Claw  and  Ball  Feet         .         9 

Colbert 304 

Colonial,  250,  251,  254,  263,  265,267 

273,  279,  303 
Columbian!      ....     265 
Columns  ....     158 

Commercialism  .  9,  10,  13,  14 
Commonwealth,  264,  267,  273,  302 
Confucius  .  .  27,28,35,300 
Constantine-Constantinople.  12,  62 

300 
Consulat  . 
Copeland 
Corinthian 

Corkscrew  Terminals 
Corn 

Cornucopia 
Count  of  Flanders 
Crane 
Cromwell 
Crowns     . 
Crunden 
Crusaders 
Cupids 


116,304 

844-  303 
55- 64,3^0 

•  293 
122 

i35>-46 

.     116 

83^  292,  303 

264, 302 

.     116 

•  244 
107, 115 
121.257 


Dailey 303 

Dauphin-Dauphiness  .  .  199 
David,  125,  211,  258,  265,  272,  304 
Da^'inci  .        .        .      132,303 

Diaper  Patterns 
Directoire,   203,  207,  208,  209,  246 

258,  265,  272,  304 
Doge  Dandola         .        .        .116 
Dolphin    .        .        .        .    9,  13,  122 


Doric        .        .        .    55,56,64,300 
Dragons  .         .         .         .149 

Du  Barry  ....     304 

Diirer,      123,  133,  156,  169,  233,  301 
Dutch,  12,  14,  139,  141,  144,  153,  154 
155:  159,  169,215,218,219,239,241 
263,  264, 265, 267, 271, 274, 292, 301 
Dutch  Renaissance         .        .     141 


122, 
159, 


12, 
292. 


Eagle        .        .        •    9.  i; 

Early  English 

Eastern     . 

East  Indian 

Eastlake 

Edward  I,  II,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  169 

264,302 
Edwards  &  Darley,      244,  265,  303 
Egypt,  9,  ID,  12,  15,  17.  iS,  22.  49,  58 

123 
Egyptian  .         .         .        21,300 

Eighteenth  Century.     125,  127,  257 

260. 268 
Eleventh  Century    .        .      108,  iiS 
Elizabeth,  160, 162, 163, 167.  169, 170 

233,  264,  266,  273,  274,  302 
Empire,  127, 206,  207,  208b.  208c.  210 

211,  258,265,  304 
English,    13,119,127,135.235.271 

274,  276.  302 
English  Empire       .         .         .     273 
English  Gothic         .       169.174,302 
English  Renaissance.  12S,  133,  160 

169,  174,  302 
English  Romanesque  (Norman), 302 
English  Sixteenth  Century     .     159 


Entablature 

Erudition 

Etruscan  .       23, 

Fawn 

Ferdinand  &  Isabella 


55 


Festoons  .       121,172,244, 

Fifth  Century 

Fifteenth  Century,  ic8,  118,  133. 

173 
Finials      .         .        .        .        .111 


.     ,58 

9.  10,  14 

59,  60, 300 

•  257 

•  149 
257 
115 
^37 


Contents 


307 


Fiske,John  ....  269 
Flemish,  151,  159,  169,235,267,301 
Flemish-Elizabethan  .     169 

Flemish  Renaissance,  133,  135,  169 

302 
Fleur-de  lis  .        .     9,21,23 

Floral       .        .  121,177,197 

F"lorentine  Renaissance,      132,303 

Foliage 24 

Foliated  Crosses  .116 

Fontaine 304 

Fontainebleau  .210 

Fourteenth  Century,  87,  116,  128 
Fra  Angelico  .        .      132,303 

Fra  Giaconda  .       132,133,304 

Francis  I  .        .         .      133.303 

PVancis  II        .  148, 304 

French,  127,  135,  145,  151,  159,  169 

196,  211,  212,  226,  236,  265,  272 
French  Gothic  107,  108,  303 

French  Heraldry     .  21,59 

French  Renaissance,    123,  133,  148 


Gothic,  10, 106, 121, 127,  133, 156,  212 

236,  239,  241,  246,  292,  293.  301 
Gothic-Early  English-Crude,    302 
Gothic  of  the  Decadence        .     131 
Gothic   with   Medi.vval  Influence, 

"3 
Gothic-Ornamental 
Gouthicre 
Gncco- Roman 
Gra?co-Pelasgic 
Grain 
Gravelotte 
Greek,  10,  21,  26,  27,  55,  57,  64,  122 

148,  204,  211,  300 
Greek  Fret      .         .         .     9,27,63 
Greek  Ionic     .        .       54,55,56,64 
Cireek  and  Roman  Band  Motifs,  12 
Griffins     ...  9,  122,  257 

Grotto 196 

Guilds 292 

Guilloche  .        .        .  10,63 


•  30- 
182,304 

62,  150 

•  55 
122 

■     304 


204, 246, 302, 303 

Halfpenny 

236 

French  Romanesque 

303 

Hallet,  William 

273 

French  Transition 

127 

•75 

Harts 

116 

Fret  Work 

•73 

Hawkesmoor  . 

236 

F"ruit 

121, 

•72, 

197 

Hellenistic 

55 

300 

Henri  II,  III,  IV  (France) 

. 

304 

Garland,  W.G. 

35 

Henry  I  (England) 

302 

George  I 

169, 

235. 

265 

Henry  II 

148 

302 

George  II 

265 

Henry  III 

MS 

302 

George  III       .       235, 

242. 

265. 

271 

Henry  IV 

•  45- 

148 

302 

Georgian,  128,  223, 226, 

233. 

246, 

265 

Henry  V 

302 

271,  277,303 

Henry  \' I 

302 

German,    13,  1 19.  135, 

.56, 

158, 

'50 

Henry  VII 

302 

30 « 

Henry  VIII,  128,  133, 

•35- 

160, 

169 

German-Elizabethan 

172 

274,302 

German  Renaissance, 

122, 

124, 

•25 

Hepplewhite,  204,  211, 

239. 

243' 

244 

«33.  158,233.301,30: 

245,248,257,258,259 

260, 

265, 

274 

Gibbons,           128,234, 

23^ 

265, 

27! 

2S0.  303 

Gibbs,  James   . 

236 

Heraldry 

116 

Goats 

257 

Herculaneum.  10.  125. 

•27, 

23^ 

246 

Goats'  Heads 

122, 

241 

257,265,272 

Gobelin 

181, 

184, 

304 

Hieroglyphics 

23 

Goth 

10, 

107 

H  ispano-More.sque 

■49 

308 


Contents 


Holbein 
Holland    . 
Honeysuckle    . 
Hope,  Thomas 
Horse 
Hybrid     . 
Hybrid  Renaissance 
Hyvart,  Louis 


124, 158, 160,  172,  301 
266, 271 


258,265,291 

122 

.     246 

.     205 

•     304 


Implements  of  War        .  125 

Ince  &  Mayhew,  241,  244,  265,  303 
India,  45,  115,  265,271,274,276,300 

Indian 267 

Italian,  13, 125, 127,  128,  130, 131, 135 

159,267,292 
Italian  Renaissance,     121,  124,  132 

148,158,264,269,302,303 

Jacobean,  14,  152,  160,  169,  171,  172 

173, 176, 215,  233, 263,  264,  273,  274 

292,302 
Jacquard  ....     304 

Jacques 304 

James  I     .        .       169,264,266,302 
James  II  .       169,215,264,302 

Japanese,  8b,  10, 27,  28,  31,  33,  34,  61 

63,  292,  293, 300 
Jefferson,  President,     265,  291,  295 
Jesse  Tree        ....      63 
John  of  Padua,      128,  133,  135,  160 

172,  233,  302 
Johnson,  Thomas    .      244,  265,  303 
Tones,  Inigo     .        175,233,264,302 
Justinian  ....      62 


Kauffmann,  Angelica 

•     303 

Kent,  William 

•     236 

Labyrinth 

23,25 

Lalonde    .        .        .        . 

•    304 

Langley,  Thomas     . 

•     236 

Latrobe     .        .        .        . 

.     291 

Lazzari     . 

•     132 

Leaves      .        .        .        . 

.     121 

Le  Brun    .        .        .        . 

184, 304 

Lion  ...         10, 122, 241 

Lock  .....  244 
Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  .  148 
Lotus  .  9,12,19,21,23,24,122 
Lozenges  ....     175 

Louis  XII  .  .  .  133,303 
Louis  XIII  .  148,191,204,304 
Louis  XIY,  4a,  14,  177,  179,  181,  1S2 

183,  184,204,205,304 
Louis  XV,  177, 178, 181,  182, 183, 184 

191, 193, 194, 195, 196,  197,  199,  200 

201,204,205,265,304 
Louis  XVI,     177,  178,  182,  184,  189 

199,  202,  204,  207, 211,  258,  304 
Luca  della  Robbia          .      132,303 
Lyres 246 

Mahogany        .        268,272,275,296 

Mansart 304 

Manwaring  .  .  244, 265, 303 
Marie  Antoinette,  184,  199,  207,  304 

Marot 215 

Mary,  Queen  .  .  .  169, 303 
Masks  ....  121,  122 
Medallions  ....  257 
Medusa  Head         .        .        .122 

Media 15 

Mediaeval  109,111,115,123,292 
Middle  Ages   .         10,107,115,292 

Mignard 304 

Milanese  Renaissance  .  132, 303 
Milton,  Thomas  .  .  .  257 
Mission  .  .  107,114,2877^92 
Mohammedan,  12,21,  35,  49,  50,  51, 

300 
Moors,  10,  49,  50,  51,  63,  81,  149,  301 
Moresque  Fret  ...  63 
Morris  .  .  109,121,292,303 
Musical  Instruments  .  .  246 
Mythic  Period  .  .  27,300 
Myth  of  Osiris        ...      23 

Napoleon,  14,207,  208b,  211, 291,304 
Nature      ...  -9 

Netherlands     .        .       133,  149,  150 


Contents 


309 


New  Englisli    . 
Nineteenth  Century 
Norman    . 
Northern  Africa 
Nude  Human  Forms 

Oak 

Oak  Leaves 

Octagon   . 

Oeben 

Oriental   .  49-  >30i 

Oudry 

Ovals 


Pagoda 196 

Pain  ....      239,257 

Palladio  .  ...  .132,303 
Palm  .  .  .  9.  12, 24,  122 
Palmette  "23 

Panther  Head  .  .122 

Papyrus    . 
Parthian  ....     300 

Percier 304 

Pergolesi,  237,  239,  257,  265,  303 
Perpendicular  or  Florid  Gothic,  iCo 

302 
Persian,  12,  15,  21.  35,  49,  50,  1 15,  120 

127,  137,  300 


9 
291 


275,  29''> 
122 

•  257 
1^2,304 
236. 274 
I  ()6,  304 

•  257 


Phihp  11 

PhtL-nicia 

Pineapple  Motif 

Plateresque 

Plum 

Pointed  Arches 

Pompadour.  Madam, 


'49,  >53,  '55 
50 
85 
149 

i<)7 
1 1 1 
1S2,  1S4.  304 


^55^ 


Pompeiian,   10,  59,  64,  125,  127,  203 

211,  236,  246,  257,  265,  272.  300 
Porcelain  ....     275 

Portuguese  '2,263 

Pre-Raphaelite  10,292,303 

Puritan     .  14,  223,  263,  2^,4,  269 

Pyramids  ....       23 


Ram 
Ram's  Head 


23, 122 

244,257 


Ramescs 

Raphael   . 

Rayed  Stars 

Regency  .        .        182, 

Religion  .  9, 

Renai.ssance,  9,  10,  13, ; 
107,  108, 109, 1 15, 1 18, 
124,  125,127,128,  131, 
157,158,160,  172,177, 
302 

Restoration 

Revolution,  French 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua 

Ribband  . 

Ribbon 

Richard  1,  II.  Ill   . 

Richardson,  G. 

Riesner    . 

Rococo,  133.  177,  iSi. 

244,  304 
Roentgen,  David     . 
Roman,    121,  122,  123, 

148, 211, 257, 291,300 
Roman  Composite  . 
Roman  Media-val    . 
Roman  Renai.ssance 
Roman  Tu.scan 
Romanesque,     10,  12. 

301 
Rosette 
Rosetti 
Rubens 
Ruskin 
Russian 


.  116 
195,196,304 
10,  12, 13, 14 

'7,  55,  59,64 
120, 121, 123 

132,  '34,  '5'' 
i<)9,  204,271 

.   125 

14.  207,  304 

.   '23 

.  241 

121,177 

.  302 

238,257,265 

.   182,304 

183,  196.  205 

.   1^2,304 
124,  126,  127 

.    .   64 

62 

'32,303 

.    .   64 

106,  121,  122 

•  25,121 
109,292,303 

151,301 

•  292, 303 

•     30' 


121 

121 

25 


Sacred  Instruments 

Sacred  Motifs 

Sacred  Tree     . 

.Saracenic,  12,49,  '°7,  ''6,  '20,  127 

292,301 
Sarto.  Andrea  del    .         .      132.303 
.Sassanian         ...     300 
.Satinwood        ....     246 
.Scandinavian  .     301 

Scroll        .        .        172,173,205.241 


310 


Contents 


•   257 
.   121 

i33>  136,303 


Sea  Horses 
Secular  Motifs 
Seralio 

Serpent 122 

Seventeenth  Century,    8b,  125,  181 

267,268,273 

Shearer 257 

Shell  Work      .        .        .      122,241 
Sheraton,  204,  244,  247,  248,  257, 258 

259, 260, 263, 265,  274,  278,  280,  303 
Shield  .  .  115,116,118,119 
Sicilian  ...  59,  116,  127 
Sixteenth  Century    .     118,119,130 

205 
Sixteenth  Century  Italian      .       12 
Sixteenth  Century  Renaissance,  127 

133 
Skulls  of  Animals    .        .        .121 
Spanish,    12,  115,  121,  125,  135,  149 

150, 151, 152, 153,  263,  266,  267,  301 

302 
Spanish  Gothic        .        .        .     loS 
Spanish  Renaissance,  133,  169,  301 

302 


Sparrow-hawk 

Spencer    . 

Sphinx 

Spirals 

Square 

Stabia 

Strap  Work 

Stephen    . 

Stuart 

Swan.  Abrahai 

Sycamore 


•  23 
169 

9)23,  257 

•  293 

•  175 
.     246 

5,172,  175 

•  302 
60, 264,302 

•  236 

•  275 


Taoist 35 

Tapestry-Bayeux     .        .        .     302 
Tapestry   Designjrs,  Dutch,  301  ; 

Italian,  303;  French,  303 
Tapestry  Making  in  England,  302 
Temperament  .        9,  10,  13,  14 


Tessier     .... 
Thirteenth  Century 
Transition,     206,  207,  208 

236,258,265,272,279 
Trefoil 
Trinity 


•  304 
118, 1 19 
209,  211 


Tripod 

Trophy 

Tudor 

Tulip 

Turkish 

Twelfth  Century 

Van  Brugh 
Vases 
Venetian 
Venetian  Renaiss 
Vernis-Martin 
Victorian  Period 
Viollet-Ie-duc   . 
Vitruvian  Scroll 
Von  Brandt 
Voysey 


•  23 

•  23 
.  121 

.  125 
160,  302 

.  '«(22 
49,300,  301 
.   118 

.  236 
246,257 

.  127 
132,303 
24-4,304 

•  303 
.   108 

9 

•  35 
282, 292 


Wagner  .....  292 
Wall-Paptr  ....  274 
Wallis       .         .        .      236,257,303 

Walnut 296 

Ware  .  .  160,169,236,275 
Watteau  .  182,  183,  185,  196,  304 
Wedgwood  ....  246 
William  and  Mary,  151,  169,  215,  235 

264,  271,  302 
William   the   Conqueror ;   William 

11,302 
Winged  Globe        .        .         23, 24 
Winged  Lions  .        .        .116 

Winged  Male  Figure  .  .  25 
Winged  Serpents  ...  12 
Woods,  Period  Uses  .  .  296 
Wreath  ....  244, 246 
Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  128,  234,  265 

303 


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